Mealey's ERISA
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October 09, 2023
California Federal Judge Won’t Dismiss ERISA Fees, Funds Lawsuit
OAKLAND, Calif. — Repeatedly citing Hughes v. Northwestern Univ. (Hughes II), a California federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a putative class case in which 401(k) plan participants assert an imprudence claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act over record-keeping fees and certain fund offerings.
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October 09, 2023
DOL Announces Settlement Regarding Cross-Plan Offsetting For ERISA Plans
NEW YORK — Under a settlement agreement with the acting secretary of Labor regarding a practice known as cross-plan offsetting, EmblemHealth Inc. has agreed to provide prospective and retrospective relief regarding its administration of health plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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October 09, 2023
Class: $61M Settlement Would Be ‘Largest Ever’ In ERISA Proprietary Funds Case
BOSTON — Saying it would be “the largest ever in an [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] case alleging that a retirement plan improperly offered proprietary funds,” plaintiffs on Oct. 6 moved in Massachusetts federal court for preliminary approval of a $61 million class settlement with General Electric Co. (GE) and related defendants.
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October 09, 2023
Panel Orders Response To Rehearing Petition In Oklahoma PBM Law Case
DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that ruled that all challenged parts of an Oklahoma law pertaining to pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) are preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act has directed the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) to respond to a petition for rehearing en banc.
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October 09, 2023
$6.1M Class Settlement Proposed In ERISA Case Over Alleged Mismanagement
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Plaintiffs in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over alleged mismanagement of a retirement plan have moved in Alabama federal court for preliminary approval of a $6.1 million class settlement with PNC Financial Services Group Inc. that they say “represents roughly 7.8% of the estimated maximum full recovery.”
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October 06, 2023
1st Circuit Panel Says Termination Of Disability Pension Benefits Was Reasonable
BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s finding that the termination of disability pension benefits was reasonable because the pension plan made numerous attempts to verify the claimant’s contention that he did not engage in disqualifying employment while receiving the benefits.
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October 06, 2023
New York Federal Judge Says Questions Of Fact Exist In Disability Benefits Suit
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied motions for summary judgment filed by a disability claimant and a disability insurer after determining that genuine disputes of material fact exist over the claimant’s job duties and the medical opinions regarding the claimant’s disabling conditions.
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October 06, 2023
LTD Benefits Reinstated; Claimant Presented Evidence Supporting Disability
PORTLAND, Ore. — A disability claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits were reinstated by an Oregon federal judge because the claimant presented the disability insurer with requested evidence that supports a finding that she was disabled from performing the duties of her occupation.
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October 06, 2023
New York Federal Judge Transfers Disability Claimant’s Suit To Utah Federal Court
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge transferred a disability claimant’s wrongful denial of benefits suit to Utah federal court after determining that Utah is the more appropriate venue because the disability claimant and the claimant’s treating physicians are all located in Utah.
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October 06, 2023
Disability Plan Is ERISA Plan; Safe Harbor Doesn’t Apply, Judge Rules
CLEVELAND — A disability plan is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal judge in Ohio ruled, concluding that the plan did not fall under ERISA’s safe harbor exemption because the employer initially paid the plan premiums and those payments were not illusory despite the employer’s issuance of a Form 1099 to the disability claimant.
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October 06, 2023
Fees Reduced, Costs Denied In ERISA Disability Case That Settled
MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge in Wisconsin reduced the attorney fees awarded to a disability claimant who sued to have her long-term disability benefits reinstated because the case settled before dispositive motions were filed and found that the issuer of the policy should not be responsible for increased costs resulting from the claimant’s “halting, piecemeal approach to recovering her attorney fees.”
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October 06, 2023
9th Circuit Sets Argument In 2nd Appeal Of ERISA Parity Case Over Coverage
PASADENA, Calif. — Oral argument in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is scheduled for Oct. 19 in an insured’s appeal challenging dismissal of his putative class case over coverage of mental health and substance use disorder claims, the docket shows.
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October 05, 2023
DOL, Plaintiffs Wrangle Over Recommendation In Fiduciary Status Test Row
DALLAS — After the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) responded to their objections, plaintiffs who sued over the DOL’s “new interpretation” of a test for whether financial professionals are acting as investment advice fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act on Oct. 4 continued to urge a Texas federal court to vacate that interpretation in its entirety.
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October 05, 2023
Plan Administrator Seeks Summary Judgment In ERISA Account-Stripping Row
NEW YORK — Moving in New York federal court for summary judgment in a case over whether it and a record-keeper should have acted differently to keep a fraudster from stripping the plaintiff’s account, a retirement plan administrator argues in part that the record “contains zero evidence that [it] did or failed to do anything that constituted a fiduciary breach or that caused Plaintiff’s loss.”
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October 04, 2023
Preexisting Conditions Exclusion Applies Based On Prior Treatment, Judge Says
ATLANTA — A disability insurer’s denial of a long-term disability (LTD) claim was reasonable because the policy’s preexisting conditions exclusion bars coverage, a Georgia federal judge said after determining that an actual diagnosis for a sickness for which the claimant was treated prior to becoming an insured under the disability plan is not required for the exclusion to apply.
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October 04, 2023
Disability Claimant’s Suit Dismissed Following Settlement Reached During Mediation
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge dismissed a disability claimant’s suit seeking a declaration that she is entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits after the claimant and the disability insurer agreed to a settlement during a mediation proceeding.
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October 03, 2023
Rehearing Bid Over 5th Circuit Affirmation Of Big ERISA Class Draws More Feedback
NEW ORLEANS — Contending that “which [standing] test applies does not affect the outcome” and that the other issue raised focuses on factual determinations, appellees on Oct. 2 urged the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals not to grant rehearing en banc in a case where a panel upheld certification of a large multiplan class.
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October 03, 2023
Federal Magistrate Judge Awards Disability Claimant $42,851 In Attorney Fees
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin federal magistrate judge awarded a disability claimant more than $42,000 in attorney fees after determining that a 40% overall reduction in the billed amount of fees was necessary despite the claimant’s success on the merits of his long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim.
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October 02, 2023
Big TPA Seeks Dismissal Of Backward-Looking Claims In DOL’s ERISA Case
MADISON, Wis. — Arguing in part that Acting U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Julie A. Su “invokes two inapposite causes of action,” the third-party administrator (TPA) of hundreds of self-funded employee welfare benefit plans in a Sept. 29 motion asked a Wisconsin federal court to dismiss backward-looking claims in the suit over hospital emergency services claims and urinary drug screening claims.
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October 02, 2023
High Court Denies Certiorari Bid Over Arizona Ruling In ERISA Preemption Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A certiorari bid regarding an Arizona Court of Appeals ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case involving a preemption dispute has failed, with the U.S. Supreme Court issuing a denial on Oct. 2.
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October 02, 2023
U.S. High Court Won’t Review Criminal Restitution Case Concerning ERISA, CCPA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petitioner argued unsuccessfully that a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel wrongly “held that neither” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act nor the Consumer Credit Protection Act of 1968 (CCPA) “posed an obstacle to garnishment of [his] retirement funds,” with the U.S. Supreme Court denying his certiorari bid on Oct. 2.
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October 02, 2023
Rehearing Opposed In ERISA Case Where 10th Circuit Ordered Claim Reprocessing
DENVER —Contending in part that an “extreme argument” against remand for claim reprocessing was raised too late to be considered and “has no legal or logical basis,” United Health Insurance Co. and related entities urge the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals not to rehear a case involving residential treatment claims for mental health and substance use.
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October 02, 2023
High Court Won’t Review ERISA Class Action Over Residual Annuities
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2 denied a certiorari petition regarding a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over residual annuities.
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September 29, 2023
Dismissal Bid Fails In Excess Loss Reinsurance Row With ERISA, Bad Faith Claims
PITTSBURGH — Ruling the arguments “more appropriately handled at the summary judgment stage,” a Pennsylvania federal judge on Sept. 28 denied a dismissal motion in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over an excess loss reinsurance contract.
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September 29, 2023
Judge: Plaintiffs Have Right To Jury Trial On Some Claims In ERISA Fees Row
NEW YORK — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over a multiple employer retirement plan’s record-keeping and administration fees will go before a jury under a New York federal judge’s ruling.