Mealey's ERISA : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's ERISA

September 12, 2023
ERISA-Imputed Withdrawal Liability Suit Is Dismissed On Jurisdictional Grounds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rejecting objections filed by the trustees of a multiemployer pension plan and declining “to adopt a less rigorous standard for general personal jurisdiction,” a District of Columbia federal judge on Sept. 11 dismissed a lawsuit against a Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company over $934 million in withdrawal liability.
September 12, 2023
En Banc Rehearing Sought Over 5th Circuit Decision Upholding ERISA ‘Mega-Class’

NEW ORLEANS — Arguing in part that a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruling improperly “creates a roadmap to expand class actions well beyond traditional boundaries,” entities that market and administer retirement and health benefit plans through two trusts filed a Sept. 11 petition for rehearing en banc in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case.
September 12, 2023
Judge Won’t Let Plaintiffs Bolster Imprudence Claim In ERISA Funds Row

SAN FRANCISCO — Saying that class action plaintiffs “failed to demonstrate good cause for amendment,” a California federal judge denied their bid to bolster their imprudence claim in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit on remand from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
September 11, 2023
Oral Argument Set In Appeal Of ERISA Case Over Prohibited Transaction Ruling

NEW ORLEANS — Oral argument in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has been set for Oct. 3 in a challenge to the dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over a 401(k) plan service provider’s imposition of a surrender fee.
September 11, 2023
Supreme Court Justice Denies Request To Stay Issuance Of Mandate In ERISA Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has denied an application by two individuals who served as fiduciaries of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act retirement plan to stay issuance of a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals mandate against them pending a planned certiorari petition.
September 08, 2023
Insureds Seek Rehearing Of Case Where 10th Circuit Ordered Claim Reprocessing

DENVER — Arguing that it is “time to bring an end to the extra-statutory practice of remanding [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] benefit cases,” insureds are seeking rehearing of a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruling that ordered reprocessing of claims for residential treatment for mental health and substance use.
September 08, 2023
Review Bid For 3rd Circuit ERISA Ruling Disputed In Effective Vindication Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arguing that the petitioners’ assertions of conflicts “are based on mischaracterizations of the Third Circuit’s decision and this Court’s precedents,” a respondent on Sept. 7 urged the U.S. Supreme Court to deny review of a ruling declining to enforce an arbitration provision that includes a nonseverable class action waiver and was invoked in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case.
September 08, 2023
Disability Claimant Entitled To LTD Benefits, 6th Circuit Says In Reversing Ruling

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s ruling in favor of a disability insurer and remanded the suit with instructions to award a disability claimant long-term disability (LTD) benefits because the insurer’s finding that the claimant was not disabled from performing the duties of any occupation is not supported by credible medical evidence.
September 08, 2023
DOL Sues Big TPA Over Emergency, Drug Screening Claim Adjudication

MADISON, Wis. — Alleging that the third-party administrator (TPA) of more than 2,100 self-funded employee welfare benefit plans is a named and functional fiduciary in regard to the challenged conduct, Acting U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Julie A. Su filed an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over adverse benefit determinations regarding hospital emergency services claims and urinary drug screening claims.
September 08, 2023
Disability Insurer’s Petition For Permission To Appeal Is Untimely, Panel Says

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a disability insurer’s petition for permission to appeal a Pennsylvania federal judge’s ruling in a disability class action suit because the insurer failed to file the petition within 14 days of the original class certification order as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f).
September 08, 2023
LTD Insurer’s Denial Of Claim Was Correct, Magistrate Judge Says

GALVESTON, Texas — A Texas federal magistrate judge recommended granting a disability insurer’s motion for judgment on the administrative record after determining that the insurer’s denial of a long-term disability (LTD) claim was correct and supported by the medical evidence.
September 08, 2023
Disability Benefits Claim Denial Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious, Judge Says

PORTLAND, Maine — The denial of a long-term disability (LTD) claim was not arbitrary and capricious because the denial of benefits was reasonable and supported by substantial evidence, a Maine federal judge said in denying the claimant’s motion for judgment on the administrative record and in granting the disability plan’s motion for judgment.
September 08, 2023
Claims Against Disability Plan Fail, Kentucky Federal Judge Determines

PADUCAH, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge dismissed a disability plan participant’s claims against a disability plan after determining that the disability claimant failed to show that the plan misstated the amount of long-term disability (LTD) benefits available to the claimant.
September 08, 2023
Disability Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss Complaint Denied As Premature

DAYTON, Ohio — An Ohio federal judge denied a disability insurer’s motion to dismiss a claimant’s suit alleging wrongful denial of disability benefits after determining that the motion is premature and that the parties must participate in discovery before the insurer’s arguments can be considered.
September 07, 2023
Parties In ERISA Case With Large Class Dispute Bid For Interlocutory Appeal

RICHMOND, Va. — Arguing that a health insurer and subcontractor “advance the same arguments that have already been rejected four times in this case,” the respondent in a suit concerning an alleged cost-shifting scheme urged the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to deny the bids for permission to file interlocutory appeals over a class certification order.
September 07, 2023
Disability Insurer Seeks 8th Circuit’s Review Of Any-Occupation Ruling

MINNEAPOLIS — A disability insurer filed a notice of appeal in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking review of a judge’s finding that a disability claimant met her burden of showing that she is disabled from performing the duties of any occupation.
September 07, 2023
Following Meiners, 10th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of ERISA Imprudence Case

DENVER — Adopting “the approach to an [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] plaintiff’s pleading burden articulated” in Meiners v. Wells Fargo & Co., under which raising “an inference of imprudence through price disparity” requires alleging “‘a meaningful benchmark,’” a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 6 affirmed dismissal of a putative class action challenging a retirement plan’s record-keeping fees and allegedly comparatively expensive investment options.
September 07, 2023
U.S. High Court Requests Response To Certiorari Bid Over Class Action Questions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 6 asked respondents to weigh in on a petition in which Hilton Hotels Retirement Plan and related entities in a suit over retirement plan vesting determinations seek review of a ruling they say involves “two circuit splits on important, recurring questions of class action law.”
September 07, 2023
Judge Approves $22.5M Consent Order Concluding ESOP Case Against 1 Defendant

PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge has approved a consent order and judgment between the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the former trustee and independent fiduciary of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) over a purchase that was allegedly for “far more than fair market value,” with terms including a $20,454,545 settlement and a $2,045,455 penalty.
September 07, 2023
DOL Wins Subpoena Enforcement Bid In ERISA Probe, Dismisses Mandamus Petition

NEW YORK — After the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) won its long-pending bid for enforcement of an administrative subpoena issued in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act investigation, Acting DOL Secretary Julie Su successfully asked the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to dismiss her petition for a writ of mandamus.
September 07, 2023
DOL Wins Dismissal Of ForUsAll’s APA Suit Over Cryptocurrency Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Saying a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) release regarding cryptocurrency is not final agency action and the requested relief does not appear “likely to redress [plaintiff ForUsAll Inc.]’s alleged injury,” a District of Columbia federal judge granted dismissal of the suit filed by a retirement plan service provider.
September 06, 2023
7th Circuit: Failure To Consider Disability Claimant’s Inability To Sit Was Error

CHICAGO — A district court committed clear error by failing to consider that a disability claimant was unable to sit at a desk for eight hours a day because the ability to sit at a desk for eight hours a day is required to perform the duties of his own occupation, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in vacating and remanding the district court’s ruling in favor of a disability insurer.
September 05, 2023
Appellees Ask 9th Circuit To Rehear ERISA Prohibited Transaction Row

SAN FRANCISCO — Arguing that a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruling concerning prohibited transactions violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “imperative” for “nationwide uniformity,” AT&T Services Inc. and a related appellee on Sept. 1 petitioned for rehearing of the decision that mostly reversed and remanded summary judgment against a certified class of retirement plan participants.
September 05, 2023
Deal With $9.75M Payment Gets Preliminary OK In ERISA Imprudence Row

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge has granted preliminary approval of a class settlement including a $9.75 million payment and a boost to monitoring processes for investments and service providers in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over fiduciaries’ allegedly imprudent fund choices.
August 31, 2023
In 2-1 Decision, 9th Circuit Reverses On Threshold Question In Preemption Row

SAN FRANCISCO — In a 2-1 ruling concerning a threshold issue, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed and remanded a summary judgment order against a trade organization that argued that a city and county of San Francisco ordinance concerning health insurance benefits for airline employees is preempted by federal law including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.