Mealey's ERISA
-
January 08, 2024
Proposed Bar Order Leads Judge To Deny Approval Of $4.5M ERISA Settlement
FLORENCE, S.C. — Saying in part that “that the proposed bar order is prejudicial to the” objecting defendants, a South Carolina federal judge on Jan. 5 denied without prejudice a motion proposing a $4.5 million class settlement of claims against Aon Investments USA Inc. in a suit over a retirement plan’s use of proprietary collective investment trusts (CITs.)
-
January 08, 2024
Judge Won’t Dismiss Suit Challenging State’s New Rules Concerning ESG Factors
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Denying dismissal in a suit challenging new Missouri rules that a trade association says require “a state-authored script” for “incorporating a social or nonfinancial objective into investment advice,” a Missouri federal judge on Jan. 5 rejected state officials’ arguments that Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) lacks associational standing and failed to state a claim.
-
January 08, 2024
DOL, Defendants Make Opening Statements In ERISA Suit Over ESOP Deal
PHOENIX — In written opening statements filed in advance of a scheduled bench trial in Arizona federal court, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and leaders of a recreational vehicle company outline markedly different views of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deal that drew a legal challenge from the DOL under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
-
January 08, 2024
11th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Dermatologist’s Case For Lack Of ERISA Standing
ATLANTA — Saying in an unpublished per curiam opinion that a dermatologist “abandoned” any challenge to the dispositive holding in the challenged dismissal order, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the lower court’s ruling in the suit concerning a patient’s purported assignments of benefits.
-
January 08, 2024
Plaintiff Suggests Narrowing Proposed Class In ERISA Suit Over ESG Factors
FORT WORTH, Texas — In a reply brief in Texas federal court, an American Airlines pilot challenging retirement plans’ use of strategies and funds purportedly incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations proposed narrowing his proposed class to exclude the funds theory.
-
January 08, 2024
Employer Asks 3rd Circuit To Uphold Dismissal In ERISA Row Over Drug Rebates
NEWARK, N.J. — Urging the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit, an employer argues primarily that the trial court correctly ruled that former participants in its self-funded health care plan who sued over approximately $65 million in drug rebates didn’t allege an injury in fact.
-
January 04, 2024
Citing Previous Ruling,11th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of ERISA Assignment Row
ATLANTA — Citing a ruling the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued in a different case brought by the same dermatologist, a panel affirmed dismissal of her suit and the “finding that the assignments upon which [she] relied did not include sufficiently explicit language to transfer the right to bring non-payment, statutory penalty suits under” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
-
January 04, 2024
10th Circuit Won’t Stay Mandate In PBM Law Row For Planned Certiorari Bid
DENVER — Without explanation, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied an opposed motion in which Oklahoma regulators cited their planned certiorari petition in seeking a stay of the court’s mandate regarding an Oklahoma law pertaining to pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) that the panel ruled partially preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Medicare Part D.
-
January 04, 2024
$500,000 Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Record-Keeping Fees Case
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A $500,000 class settlement of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over allegedly excessive record-keeping fees for a health system’s 403(b) defined contribution pension plan won final approval in Massachusetts federal court, with class counsel awarded a third of that amount for attorney fees.
-
January 03, 2024
In Amicus Brief, DOL Supports New Trial In ERISA Imprudence Case
NEW YORK — In an amicus curiae brief echoing the key contention made by Yale University 403(b) retirement plan participants, Acting U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Julie A. Su urges the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to order a new trial in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action because the jury instructions erroneously used a “could have” rather than a “would have” standard.
-
January 03, 2024
Citing APA, Amicus Groups Urge Review Of 10th Circuit Health Benefits Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should review a ruling that “significantly alter[ed] claims administrators’ obligations in health-benefits denial cases” by adopting “a revisionist interpretation” of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations, the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) and The Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America say in a Jan. 2 joint amicus curiae brief.
-
January 03, 2024
10th Circuit Denies Fee Request After Reversing Dismissal Of Parity Act Claim
DENVER — Saying the insureds “have not yet prevailed” on their Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA or Parity Act) claim in a case over residential mental health treatment, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied their opposed motion for attorney fees without prejudice.
-
January 03, 2024
11th Circuit Upholds Denial Of Vacation In ERISA Row With Recusal Violation
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Saying in part that “we see no risk of injustice to the parties absent vacatur” despite a recusal violation, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued an unpublished per curiam opinion upholding denial of a motion to vacate final judgment in a dispute over termination of retiree life insurance benefits.
-
January 02, 2024
Stay Bid Pending Certiorari Petition In PBM Law Row Argued In 10th Circuit
DENVER — Disputing whether a planned certiorari petition means the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should stay its mandate regarding an Oklahoma law pertaining to pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) that it ruled partially preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Medicare Part D, Oklahoma regulators and a trade association argue issues including whether the opinion involves circuit splits.
-
December 28, 2023
Judge OKs Lipedema Class Settlement, Awards $100,000 Attorney Fee For Now
SAN FRANCISCO — A class settlement over denial of coverage for a specialized form of liposuction to treat lipedema has been granted final approval, but a California federal judge awarded class counsel only about a tenth of the attorney fees they requested, saying in part that they can seek more once the case’s results are clearer.
-
December 28, 2023
10th Circuit: ERISA Preemption Applies In Life Insurance Row
DENVER — Rejecting various arguments including that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act doesn’t apply because the life insurance policy in question has been an individual one since the insured retired, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued an unpublished ruling affirming dismissal of his suit against his former employer.
-
December 28, 2023
With Rehearing Denied, 2nd Circuit’s ERISA Prohibited Transaction Ruling Stands
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied a rehearing petition in which retirement plan participants whose unsuccessful appeal essentially sought revival of the bulk of their class action argued in part that the challenged decision involving a first-impression prohibited transaction holding conflicts with three other circuits’ rulings.
-
December 22, 2023
$6.75M Class Settlement Of ERISA Suit Over Active TDFs Wins Final Approval
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge reduced incentive awards to $6,500 in an order granting final approval to the $6.75 million class settlement of retirement plan participants’ suit against LinkedIn Corp. and related entities over the allegedly imprudent selection and retention of Fidelity’s actively managed Freedom suite target date funds (TDFs).
-
December 20, 2023
3rd Circuit Upholds Workers’ Exclusion From Affiliate’s ERISA Benefit Plans
PHILADELPHIA — In a nonprecedential disposition, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed that two individuals weren’t wrongfully denied participation in employee benefit plans offered by a corporation affiliated with the golf club they worked at, with one member opining that her “colleagues problematically ignore essential principles of res judicata.”
-
December 19, 2023
Health Plans Drop ERISA Suit Against TPA, Say Claims Will Be Arbitrated
MARSHALL, Texas — A Texas federal judge granted voluntary dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit against the third-party administrator (TPA) of medical and dental plans for The Kraft Heinz Co. under a notice in which the plaintiffs — the plans and the board that acts as their administrator — said their claims will be arbitrated.
-
December 19, 2023
5th Circuit Won’t Revive ERISA Prohibited Transaction Case Over Surrender Fee
NEW ORLEANS — Upholding dismissal of a putative class suit over a 401(k) plan service provider’s imposition of a surrender fee, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel rejected arguments that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) advanced in an amicus curiae brief regarding when an entity is a party in interest under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
-
December 15, 2023
Judge Won’t Reconsider $3.86M Fees Award In Deal Settling SAG-AFTRA ERISA Row
LOS ANGELES — Noting “the absence of any new facts or new law,” a California federal judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration of a $3,862,500 attorney fees award in a class settlement of a suit against the SAG-AFTRA Health Fund and related entities over benefit cuts and a merger.
-
December 14, 2023
10th Circuit Won’t Revisit Ruling That ERISA Partly Preempts Oklahoma PBM Law
DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied Oklahoma regulators’ petition for rehearing of an appeal in which a panel ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts four parts of an Oklahoma law pertaining to pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) and Medicare Part D also preempts one of those parts.
-
December 14, 2023
$5M Class Deal Proposed To Settle ERISA Imprudence Suit Over Retirement Plans
DETROIT — Plaintiffs challenging numerous aspects of the management of two Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) retirement plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act have asked a Michigan federal court to preliminarily approve a $5 million class settlement agreement.
-
December 13, 2023
$1M Class Settlement In ERISA Case Over Hospital Plan Gets Preliminary OK
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act case against Yale-New Haven Hospital Inc. and related entities where imprudence allegations relating to record-keeping and administrative (RK&A) fees survived dismissal would be settled under a $1 million class agreement that was granted preliminary approval in a Connecticut federal court.