9th Circuit Uses Effective Vindication Doctrine In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Case

( August 5, 2025, 1:38 PM EDT) -- PASADENA, Calif. — Calling the holding in the tobacco surcharge case “consistent with” decisions that five sister circuits issued in a variety of Employee Retirement Income Security Act disputes in the past few years, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 4 ruled in part that a health plan arbitration provision’s “representative action waiver violates the effective vindication doctrine and is unenforceable.”...