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June 25, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — Addressing what it said was “a question of first impression for this Court,” the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 24 ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “broadly preempts state-law claims” and that explanation of benefits (EOB) forms central to the defamation case it was reviewing “fall well within the scope” of that express preemption.
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June 24, 2026
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Just over a month after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a certiorari petition that asked it to strike down application of the “effective vindication” doctrine, the parties filed a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice in a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over use of a half-century-old mortality table to calculate joint and survivor annuities (JSAs), and a New York federal judge accordingly ordered the case closed.
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June 24, 2026
The recent Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc. opinion vacating certification of a mandatory class in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case is having an impact on a variety of ERISA cases, with the ruling cited in at least six developments ranging from an interlocutory appeal to decertification motions to extra steps in settlement proceedings.
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June 23, 2026
NEWARK, N.J. — Saying in a June 22 letter that they reached an agreement regarding unspecified monetary terms in mediation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case and “are diligently finalizing the remaining non-monetary settlement terms,” the parties asked a New Jersey federal court to temporarily stay all deadlines in the suit that involves a class of more than 50,000 individuals and had been progressing toward an October bench trial.
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June 23, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — Saying, “Sometimes, even a good process produces disappointing results,” the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 22 affirmed summary judgment for retirement plan fiduciaries who were sued under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act over retention of allegedly underperforming actively managed funds, concluding that the fiduciaries “followed a sound process, collaborating with an outside investment advisor and meeting with the managers of the challenged Funds” and that “[a] fund’s poor performance alone does not mandate drastic or sudden action.”
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June 22, 2026
MIAMI — A Florida federal judge ordered a long-term disability (LTD) claimant’s case administratively closed and all pending motions denied as moot upon being informed that the parties had come to “an amicable resolution”; the deal followed a recommendation that summary judgment be granted in favor of the claimant, with a magistrate judge concluding on de novo review that the claimant “sufficiently supported her claim with both objective and subjective evidence of disabling migraines” but that “the record is less clear on whether symptoms associated with” postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and “post-concussive cognitive impairments” were disabling.
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June 22, 2026
ATLANTA — Issuing a sua sponte dismissal of a complaint as a “shotgun” pleading, a Georgia federal judge said the plaintiff in the suit over a long-term disability (LTD) benefit overpayment “has presented the Court with a box of parts and expects the Court to build the claim without providing an instruction manual.”
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June 19, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — Affirming a ruling that barred a woman who was convicted of murdering her husband from claiming his Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefits, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in an unpublished memorandum disposition that under a state “slayer” statute, “a person’s killer is not entitled to benefit from the decedent’s pension” and that “federal common law refuses to allow a person to benefit financially from a murder she has committed.”
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June 19, 2026
NEW YORK — Concluding that possible ambiguities in an insurer’s communications kept it from showing that the plaintiff failed to exhaust her administrative remedies, a New York federal judge on June 18 denied the defendant insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a suit over terminated long-term disability (LTD) benefits.
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June 19, 2026
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Granting summary judgment for an insurer on all claims in a putative class case involving disability benefits under a group occupational accident coverage (OAC) policy offered to independent contractors, a California federal judge ruled that the insurer is entitled to $75,446.71 in equitable restitution for short-term disability (STD) benefits it paid because the claimant also received a $40,000 settlement that falls under the policy’s nonduplication of workers’ compensation provision.
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June 18, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — Concluding that neither claim was plausible under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 17 affirmed rulings against a widower who argued that his late wife’s employer wrongly denied his claim for basic accidental life insurance and optional accidental death and disability (AD&D) benefits and wrongly failed to provide plan documents.
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June 18, 2026
EL PASO, Texas — A Texas federal magistrate judge recommended granting a dismissal motion filed by Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plan administrators in a woman’s suit asserting claims against the administrators, a physician, his practice and a hospital regarding the alleged negligent treatment she received during a joint replacement surgery after which she contracted COVID-19, finding that the woman cannot plead ERISA claims while arguing that ERISA is inapplicable.
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June 18, 2026
NORFOLK, Va. — Asking a Virginia federal court to order that the administrative record in his suit over total and permanent (T&P) disability benefits “be filed and maintained under seal,” a former National Football League player who is currently a Virginia state senator argues in part that disclosure “would invite public speculation and media scrutiny concerning Plaintiff's mental and physical health, cause harm to his professional reputation entirely unrelated to the legitimate issues before this Court, and constitute an egregious invasion of privacy that no amount of legal remedy could adequately redress.”
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June 17, 2026
NEW YORK — Pursuant to joint stipulations, a New York federal judge on June 16 certified mandatory classes as to the remaining claims in two related long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases that generally allege imprudent management of New York University (NYU) retirement plans.
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June 16, 2026
CHICAGO — Asking the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a decision that upheld termination of his long-term disability (LTD) benefits under a “regular care of a physician” requirement, a former Whole Foods worker argues in his June 15 opening brief that the trial court was wrong both in concluding that the insurer cited the requirement during his administrative appeal and in ruling that under de novo review it could consider the requirement even if the insurer hadn’t cited it in the administrative appeal.
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June 12, 2026
NEW YORK — Retirees who sued Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and related defendants over the use of allegedly outdated mortality tables in calculating qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA) benefits have won a New York federal court’s preliminary approval of a class settlement they say has a present value of $23 million.
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June 12, 2026
BOSTON — A plaintiff who unsuccessfully sought reinstatement of her long-term disability (LTD) benefits has filed a notice of appeal regarding a Massachusetts federal judge’s ruling that it was not arbitrary or capricious for the insurer to determine that she “could work pursuant to the Gainful Employment standard under the Plan, despite her illnesses and pain.”
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June 11, 2026
PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for July 7 in the case of a former underwriter who says he was disabled by cognitive impairments and other symptoms he attributes to long COVID; issues in the appeal include assessing differing medical opinions and whether new reasons for denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits were improperly raised in the lower court.
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June 11, 2026
ST. LOUIS — Affirming dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act claim that a pro se former football player asserted regarding NFL total and permanent (T&P) disability benefits, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a one-paragraph unpublished opinion saying briefly that it found “no basis for” reversing the lower court’s conclusion that the claim was time-barred.
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June 10, 2026
HOUSTON — Upholding denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits on de novo review, a Texas federal judge said that the plaintiff’s work history and approach to his illness and symptoms undercut his claims that he was unable to perform the material and substantial duties of his regular occupation and that the medical professionals who reviewed his claim “described ample bases for their” contrary conclusions.
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June 10, 2026
PASADENA, Calif. — In an unpublished memorandum disposition partly reversing and remanding judgment in favor of a health plan over refusal to preauthorize “a two-level artificial disc replacement surgery,” the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed that the administrator “did not operate under a conflict of interest,” then ruled that the administrator erred in denying the claim and the bench trial judge erred in finding no abuse of discretion on the administrator’s part.
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June 09, 2026
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Declining to disturb an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) fiduciary’s decisions regarding disbursement of almost $16 million in proceeds from two confidential settlements that were made without court action, a Wisconsin federal judge ruled that the remaining defendants in a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit “have not established that the court has the authority or duty to require” the “additional due process and fairness protections” requested regarding the settlement funds.
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June 09, 2026
NEWARK, N.J. — Denying a letter motion that cited consolidated appeals addressing “the threshold question of whether healthcare providers can enforce binding No Surprises Act (‘NSA’) awards in federal court,” a New Jersey federal magistrate judge ordered briefing to continue in a newly substituted lead case that could affect hundreds of similar lawsuits initially filed under the NSA in which providers are expected to assert Employee Retirement Income Security Act and unjust enrichment claims.
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June 08, 2026
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rejecting the defendants’ arguments regarding the impact of a nine-factor test the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals instituted concerning releases in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases, a California federal judge on June 4 issued separate orders denying motions to decertify the class and reopen discovery and then on June 5 amended the latter order to clarify that a bench trial in the long-running case over severance benefits is scheduled to start July 9.
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June 08, 2026
DENVER — Saying that it lacks jurisdiction because the decision at issue remanded benefits determinations to a claims administrator and “was not final for the purposes of appellate jurisdiction,” the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal concerning health plan coverage for treatment at residential behavioral health facilities.