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October 06, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on Oct. 6 in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case concerning whether fund underperformance claims must allege a “meaningful benchmark” to survive dismissal, with retirement plan participants arguing that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals improperly imposed a categorical rule that prohibits a holistic analysis of the allegations and plan fiduciaries and amicus curiae the U.S. government contending that the Ninth Circuit correctly decided that an apples-to-apples comparison is necessary in such cases.
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October 06, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Retirees whose putative class actions were revived in a split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision have waived their right to respond to separate certiorari petitions concerning that opinion, which ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “prohibits employers from using unreasonable, inappropriate actuarial assumptions” when calculating certain pension benefits.
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October 06, 2026
ST. LOUIS — Saying in part that de novo review applies because the untimely determination of an administrative appeal here did not fall under an exception for de minimis violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a Missouri federal judge vacated termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a former nurse under an any-occupation definition of disability and remanded to the insurer on the grounds that “the identified occupations require retraining and exceed Plaintiff’s physical limitations.”
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October 05, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 5 denied a certiorari petition in which a pro se petitioner presented two questions concerning qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs) and sought review of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling.
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October 05, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a respondent brief was filed at its request, the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 5 denied a certiorari petition concerning a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that claims administration agreements (CAAs) and other ancillary documents a health plan beneficiary requested fell outside a statutory disclosure requirement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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October 05, 2026
Thirty-four class settlements below $5 million were proposed, granted preliminary approval or finalized between mid-February and late September in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases that concerned alleged mismanagement of retirement plans.
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October 02, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a text-only docket entry, the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 1 requested a response to a certiorari petition seeking review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that cites the Fourth Circuit’s recent Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc. ruling and concerns what constitutes “appropriate relief” under part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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October 01, 2026
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Saying in part that “draft reports lose protection when considered by another expert in forming their opinions,” a Wisconsin federal judge granted a motion to compel production of an expert witness’s draft reports in a suit concerning an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) transaction.
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September 30, 2026
SEATTLE — Denying a petition for rehearing en banc without substantive explanation, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 29 let stand an unpublished memorandum disposition in which it briefly upheld the trial court’s ruling requiring recalculation of withdrawal liability under Ninth Circuit precedent but declined to award attorney fees for the appeal.
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September 30, 2026
LOS ANGELES — Declining to overturn termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits in a case that involved conditions ranging from depression to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a California federal judge said the claimant failed to “connect the dots, so to speak, between any diagnoses and actual functional limitations that rendered her” disabled from her occupation as an attorney.
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September 30, 2026
DENVER — Resolving cross-appeals filed after the class in an early retirement benefits dispute concerning a multiemployer fund obtained a judgment in the amount of $24,851,056, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 29 revived fiduciary breach claims asserted by 66 boilermakers but otherwise affirmed the trial court.
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September 29, 2026
BOSTON — Overruling objections from each party in a putative class action that is part of a wave of pension risk transfer (PRT) challenges, a Massachusetts federal judge on Sept. 28 adopted a report and recommendation that concluded that the amended complaint “plausibly alleges that a fiduciary breach occurred” but that only a claim against an independent fiduciary and one of the fiduciary’s managing directors survives dismissal.
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September 28, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling reversing the remand of an opioid suit against pharmacy benefit managers provides additional support for rehearing a Ninth Circuit decision allowing California's similar suit to proceed in state court, the PBMs tell the Ninth Circuit in a notice of supplemental authority filed as the court considers their petition for rehearing following the U.S. Supreme Court's April ruling in Chevron U.S.A., Inc., et al. v. Plaquemines Parish, et al.
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September 28, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS — Saying in part that a Maine ban on discretionary clauses does not apply because the group long-term disability (LTD) plan at issue was not continued or renewed after the law went into effect, a Minnesota federal judge upheld the insurer’s decision to terminate benefits after paying them for seven years in a case involving cyclicvomiting syndrome(CVS) and cognitive impairment.
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September 28, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Petitioners whose certiorari petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision focuses on the Fourth Circuit’s recent Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc. ruling have filed a supplemental brief highlighting two developments they say “underscore that this case raises a certworthy question on the scope of ‘appropriate relief’” under part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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September 25, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A certiorari petition in which a pro se petitioner presents two questions concerning qualified domestic relations orders (QDROs) has been distributed for the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sept. 28 conference after the respondents indicated that they did not intend to respond unless asked to, the high court docket shows.
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September 24, 2026
CHICAGO — One of the cases in a wave of tobacco surcharge challenges would be resolved for $8.95 million under a class settlement an Illinois federal judge has granted preliminary approval.
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September 24, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — Following briefing that was conducted on an accelerated schedule, the Fourth Circuit has scheduled oral argument for Oct. 30 in an interlocutory appeal concerning certification of an opt-out class in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case where the initial certification of a mandatory class was vacated under the Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc. ruling the appellate court handed down in March.
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September 24, 2026
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Noting that interest from the defendants’ early payment of $13.4 million had grown the common fund to $13,524,410.05, a Massachusetts federal judge gave final approval to the class settlement of a case in which 401(k) plan participants challenged recordkeeping and managed account fees and inclusion of two allegedly underperforming investment options.
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September 23, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — Ahead of Sept. 24 oral argument before the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the third-party administrator (TPA) of group health plans responded to an amicus curiae brief in which the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) urges a ruling “that surcharge is an equitable remedy in suits brought under” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and the appellate court granted the DOL’s request to participate in the argument.
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September 23, 2026
SAN DIEGO — A diagnostic lab filed an amended complaint in California federal court, alleging that health care plans and their administrators failed to pay and process claims for diagnostic tests for COVID-19 provided by the lab to individuals with benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) or with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.
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September 22, 2026
NEW YORK — Saying that it was joining a sister circuit in holding that the No Surprises Act (NSA) “does not imply a private right of action to enforce” independent dispute resolution (IDR) awards, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a suit that an out-of-network health care provider filed against companies that administer “private employer-sponsored group health plans.”
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September 22, 2026
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Saying in part that the health care professionals who treated the claimant or reviewed her medical file concluded “nearly unanimously . . . that her Long Covid diagnosis and subjective symptoms did not render her disabled within the meaning of the Policy,” a Virginia federal judge let the challenged termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits stand following de novo review.
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September 21, 2026
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — An employee welfare benefit plan that offered voluntary benefits including long-term disability (LTD), life insurance and critical illness coverage is the focus of a putative class complaint filed in New York federal court, with plan participants accusing their employer of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by making choices that resulted in “excessive charges embedded in premiums, diminished Plan and participant assets, and the loss of value and loyalty owed by a fiduciary operating free of self-dealing.”
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September 21, 2026
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Finding no abuse of discretion in a long-term disability (LTD) insurer’s decision to deny a claim under a preexisting conditions exclusion, a North Carolina federal judge entered judgment against a former pilot who had throat and breathing problems.