Mealey's ERISA

  • January 13, 2025

    After Trial, Judge Finds Disloyalty In ERISA Suit Over Fund Manager’s ESG Efforts

    FORT WORTH, Texas — In a Jan. 10 ruling issued after a bench trial in a class action over environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of investment management firms, a Texas federal judge found that American Airlines Inc. and its employee benefits committee breached their fiduciary duty of loyalty but not their duty of prudence.

  • January 13, 2025

    Appellees To 9th Circuit: Uphold Dismissal Of ERISA Suit Over Severance Benefits

    SAN FRANCISCO — Urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm dismissal of a putative class case filed by former Twitter employees and reject arguments that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) makes as amicus curiae, Elon Musk and related entities argue in part in a Jan. 10 brief that precedent supports the ruling that the workers didn’t plausibly allege that a purported severance plan is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 10, 2025

    After Revival, Defendants Win ERISA Disclosure Case With Release Agreement

    NEW YORK — After the putative class action over annual benefit statements provided after a traditional defined benefit retirement plan was converted to a cash balance plan was partly revived on different grounds, a New York federal judge ruled against the plaintiff on all remaining claims, which she said were “barred by the release the plaintiff executed in exchange for receipt of his severance package.”

  • January 10, 2025

    Disability Insurer Wrongfully Terminated Benefits, Woman With Long COVID Says

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A woman who was diagnosed with long COVID filed suit on Jan. 9 in California federal court against her disability insurer, alleging that the insurer wrongfully terminated her long-term disability (LTD) benefits after determining that she was able to perform the duties of her own occupation as the director of operations at a museum.

  • January 10, 2025

    Federal Judge Says Application Of Mental Health Limitation Was Not Unreasonable

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of a disability insurer after finding that the insurer did not incorrectly determine the claimant’s date of disability and did not unreasonably apply a mental health limitation to limit the payment of long-term disability (LTD) benefits to the claimant.

  • January 10, 2025

    Parties In Disability Dispute Allowed To File Administrative Record Under Seal

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge granted a joint motion filed by a disability claimant and disability insurer to file the administrative record under seal, according to a note on the court docket.

  • January 10, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms That Amended ERISA Record-Keeping Fees Complaint Was Futile

    NEW YORK — Citing a different panel’s recent ruling in Singh v. Deloitte LLP, which had “substantially the same claims,” a  Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a summary order and judgment affirming denial of leave to file a third amended complaint in a putative class action challenging a retirement plan’s record-keeping fees.

  • January 10, 2025

    Claimant Met Burden Of Showing She Is Disabled From Own Occupation, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a disability claimant’s motion for judgment and denied a disability insurer’s motion for judgment after determining that the disability claimant met her burden of proving that she is disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation.

  • January 10, 2025

    Magistrate Judge Says Disability Insurer Did Not Have Right To Terminate Benefits

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge recommended that a disability claimant’s motion for summary judgment be granted and recommended a finding that the disability insurer’s decision to terminate the claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits was arbitrary and capricious because the insurer did not have the right to terminate the claimant’s benefits based on a failure to provide additional documents.

  • January 10, 2025

    2nd Circuit Again Upholds A Refusal To Compel Arbitration In An ERISA Case

    NEW YORK — Granting a motion based on Cedeno v. Sasson, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel summarily affirmed a ruling that an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) arbitration clause is not enforceable because it conflicts with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 09, 2025

    NFL Disability Plan Tells 11th Circuit District Court Ruling Must Be Affirmed

    ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling in favor of the National Football League’s disability plan must be affirmed because the former NFL player failed to exhaust all administrative remedies and failed to show that any exceptional circumstances excused the failure to exhaust all administrative remedies, the plan says in its appellee brief filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • January 09, 2025

    Disability Insurer Cannot Use Evidence Collected After Claim Was Deemed Exhausted

    FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A disability insurer is not permitted to introduce any evidence gathered after the date on which a claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was deemed exhausted because the insurer failed to issue a decision of the claimant’s appeal within 45 days as required by regulations set forth by the U.S. Department of Labor, an Indiana federal judge said in granting the claimant’s motion to exclude evidence collected after the date on which the claim was deemed exhausted.

  • January 09, 2025

    Disability Insurer Identified Substantial Evidence To Support Benefits Termination

    DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling that a disability insurer’s termination of disability benefits was reasonable because the insurer identified substantial evidence to support its finding that the claimant was not disabled from performing the duties of any occupation.

  • January 08, 2025

    Amicus Argument Granted In High Court Case Over ERISA Pleading Standard

    WASHINGTON, D.C. —The U.S. Supreme Court in a Jan. 8 order list granted the government’s request to be allowed to participate as amicus curiae in divided Jan. 22 argument concerning what is necessary to state an Employee Retirement Income Security Act claim for a prohibited transaction between a retirement plan and a party in interest.

  • January 08, 2025

    Disability Claimant Failed To Meet Burden Of Proving Benefits Are Owed, Panel Says

    PASADENA, Calif. —  The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s ruling in favor of a disability insurer after determining that the lower court did not err in finding that the claimant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she is entitled to short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) benefits because she failed to provide any objective findings in support of her claimed disability.

  • January 08, 2025

    $4.95M ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Deal Proposed In Case That Preceded Recent Wave

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A suit filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges would be resolved for $4.95 million under a class settlement to which the plaintiff has asked a Missouri federal court to grant preliminary approval.

  • January 08, 2025

    After Revival, Settlement Of Almost $1.5M Is Proposed In ERISA Imprudence Suit

    DALLAS — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act fees and funds challenge that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived in an unpublished opinion would be resolved for $1,475,000 under a class settlement the plaintiffs have asked a Texas federal court to grant preliminary approval.

  • January 08, 2025

    Disability Insurer’s Termination Of Benefits Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s judgment in favor of a disability insurer, agreeing with the lower court’s conclusion that the insurer’s termination of a claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits was not arbitrary and capricious because the termination was based on substantial evidence.

  • January 07, 2025

    $6.9M Settlement Proposed In ERISA Imprudence Case Over Fees And Funds

    CHICAGO — Seeking preliminary approval of a $6.9 million class settlement in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit involving record-keeping fees and proprietary target date funds (TDFs), retirement plan participants on Jan. 6 told an Illinois federal court that the gross amount is “approximately 12% to 38% of damages” estimated by their expert.

  • January 07, 2025

    Protective Order Violations Alleged In ERISA, RICO Suit Over Repricing Method

    OAKLAND, Calif. — After the defendants alleged violation of a protective order in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit over alleged underpayment for out-of-network behavioral health treatment claims, saying in part that a government regulator not involved sent a confidential document from it in communications about a separate matter, the plaintiffs requested more time to respond and a California federal judge issued a text-only order.

  • January 07, 2025

    11th Circuit ERISA Ruling Rejecting Burden-Shifting Is Focus Of Certiorari Bid

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Home Depot Inc. and related respondents have waived their right to respond to a certiorari petition in which 401(k) plan participants ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on “whether, consistent with trust law, burden-shifting applies to the element of causation under” part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 07, 2025

    Attorney Fee, Timeliness Issues Highlighted In U.S. Supreme Court Certiorari Bid

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seeking the high court’s review of a ruling that affirmed judgment for multiemployer funds, a contractor and surety assert that the latest of the nine Miller Act decisions that the U.S. Supreme Court issued was handed down in 1978, saying, “The time is ripe for this Court to decide another Miller Act case, and this should be that case.”

  • January 03, 2025

    Respondents, Amici Urge High Court To Affirm 2nd Circuit ERISA Ruling

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three Jan. 3 amicus curiae briefs have been filed in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the respondents on the question of what is necessary to state an Employee Retirement Income Security Act claim for a prohibited transaction between a plan and a party in interest.

  • January 03, 2025

    Standing Is Among Issues Raised In Motion To Dismiss ERISA Suit Over Surcharges

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Arguing in part that the plaintiffs lack standing, a company sued over surcharges imposed on participants in its self-funded health plan for tobacco use and for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has moved in North Carolina federal court for dismissal.

  • January 02, 2025

    $2.45M Class Settlement In ERISA Annuity Calculation Case Wins Final Approval

    MILWAUKEE — A class of about 500 individuals whose joint survivor annuity (JSA) benefits were calculated using a 1971 mortality table and 6% interest rate will receive increased benefits under a $2.45 million Employee Retirement Income Security Act settlement that a Wisconsin federal judge granted final approval.

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