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Mealey's ERISA

October 08, 2024
Citing Thomas, 5th Circuit Upholds Denial Of AD&D Benefits In ERISA Case

NEW ORLEANS — In a per curiam unpublished opinion calling the reasoning of Thomas v. AIG Life Ins. Co. “persuasive,” a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld denial of accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) benefits on the grounds that the beneficiary didn’t carry her burden.
October 08, 2024
$500K Attorney Fee Deal Struck, Appeal Over ESG Factor Ruling Dropped

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri federal judge has adopted a stipulation in which Missouri state officials agreed to a $500,000 attorney fee award and dismissal with prejudice of their appeal of a ruling that imposed a statewide permanent injunction barring enforcement of parts of two new rules a trade association said would have required “a state-authored script” for “incorporating a social or nonfinancial objective into investment advice.”
October 07, 2024
Settlement With ‘Landmark’ $10M Recovery Gets Initial OK In Mortality Table Row

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal granted preliminary approval to a class settlement including what retirees said would be a “landmark recovery” of $10 million on Oct. 4; the proposal in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over allegedly outdated mortality tables used to calculate joint and survivor annuity (JSA) benefits in two Citgo Petroleum Corp. pension plans also includes up to $4.75 million for attorney fees, expenses and service awards.
October 07, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Review ERISA Ruling In Life Insurance Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a certiorari petition regarding an Employee Retirement Income Security Act decision that a retiree said concerned information regarding group life insurance rates and the respondent contended didn’t answer the question presented in the petition.
October 07, 2024
High Court Refuses To Review 5th Circuit’s Ruling In NFL Disability Benefits Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a former National Football League player’s petition for a writ of certiorari in its list of orders issued Oct. 7, refusing to review the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the former NFL player failed to prove that he is entitled to additional disability benefits under the NFL’s benefits plan.
October 07, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Seeks Government’s View On Withdrawal Liability Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court is seeking additional input on a petition for review of a Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) withdrawal liability decision that created a circuit split, issuing an Oct. 7 invitation for the U.S. solicitor general to express the government’s views.
October 07, 2024
High Court Seeks U.S. Input On Whether To Review PBM Law Preemption Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 invited the U.S. solicitor general to weigh in on an opposed petition for review of a ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Medicare Part D partially preempt an Oklahoma pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM) law.
October 04, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Owed For Class Actions Alleging Employees Were Underpaid

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 3 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that an insurance policy’s “wage and hour violation” exclusion barred coverage for two underlying class lawsuits alleging that the insured conducted an unlawful scheme of underpaying some of its employees.
October 04, 2024
High Court Will Review 2nd Circuit ERISA Prohibited Transaction Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4 granted a certiorari petition regarding a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling involving what is necessary to state an Employee Retirement Income Security Act prohibited transaction claim for a transaction between a plan fiduciary and a party in interest.
October 04, 2024
4th Circuit Vacates Multiemployer Fund Contribution Ruling As To Damages

RICHMOND, Va. — A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 3 upheld a liability ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act dispute over multiemployer benefit fund contributions but said while it “largely agree[s]” with the trial court on damages, it is “constrained to vacate that ruling and remand for further proceedings on certain damages-related issues.”
October 03, 2024
Retirees: $10M Would Be ‘Landmark Recovery’ In Actuarial Equivalence Case

CHICAGO — Saying it would be a “landmark recovery,” retirees who filed an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over allegedly outdated mortality tables used to calculate joint and survivor annuity (JSA) benefits in two Citgo Petroleum Corp. pension plans on Oct. 2 asked an Illinois federal court for preliminary approval of a $10 million class settlement plus up to $4.75 million for attorney fees, expenses and service awards.
October 03, 2024
Discovery Ruling Issued In Insurance Fraud Suit Seeking Relief Under ERISA, UCL

LOS ANGELES — A California federal magistrate judge substantially granted a motion to compel discovery filed by a cheese manufacturing company in its suit against surgery centers for alleged fraudulent billing for health care plan benefits related to unnecessary or unperformed medical services, restitution under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding in part that the defendants’ privacy concerns are outweighed by the need for the discovery information that will be reviewed under a stipulated protection order that will address those concerns.
October 03, 2024
10th Circuit Addresses ERISA Disclosures In Coverage Dispute Ruling

DENVER — On review of several decisions in a case over residential treatment coverage, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated summary judgment for the insureds on a Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Parity Act) claim for lack of standing and, in “an issue of first impression in this circuit,” ruled that an administrative services agreement (ASA) falls within an Employee Retirement Income Security Act disclosure requirement.
October 03, 2024
Judge Strikes Renewed Jury Demand In ERISA Suit Over NYU Retirement Plans

NEW YORK — Striking a jury demand asserted in a second amended complaint filed in a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over New York University (NYU) retirement plan fees and funds, a New York federal judge ruled in part that the amendments did not revive the plaintiffs’ right to a jury trial.
October 01, 2024
Summary Judgment Bid Fails In ERISA Class Action Over Mortality Tables

NEW YORK — Denying a summary judgment motion filed by a life insurer and related defendants in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action challenging the use of allegedly outdated mortality tables in calculating qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA) benefits, a New York federal judge said he was reserving expert disputes and other issues for a bench trial.
October 01, 2024
Adopting Groetzinger, 6th Circuit Partly Reverses Withdrawal Liability Ruling

CINCINNATI — Partly reversing a ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel adopted the test outlined in Commissioner v. Groetzinger, 480 U.S. 23 (1987), saying that the trial court applied the wrong test but it made a difference for only the wife of the couple involved, who therefore is not personally liable for withdrawal liability.
October 01, 2024
Insurers Again Rebut Lab’s Effort To Establish ERISA Standing For Testing Repayment

NEWARK, N.J. — After a New Jersey federal judge allowed a medical testing laboratory seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 testing from two insurers to amend its complaint, concluding that further amendment could resolve a question of whether the laboratory has derivative standing under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the insurers moved a third time to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
October 01, 2024
11th Circuit Denies En Banc Hearing In ERISA Row Over Exhaustion Precedent

ATLANTA — Rejecting a request that drew amicus curiae support from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied initial hearing en banc in the suit where appellants seek the overturn of longstanding circuit precedent concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuits.
September 27, 2024
Judge: Loper Bright Argument In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Row Merits Consideration

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After supplemental briefing in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case the U.S. Department of Labor filed over a tobacco surcharge wellness program (TSWP), an Ohio federal judge on Sept. 26 denied dismissal without prejudice, saying the defendants’ argument regarding the impact of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo “warrants full consideration.”
September 27, 2024
Federal Bankruptcy Judge Upholds PBGC Regulations In Withdrawal Liability Row

WILMINGTON, Del. — Ruling on four partial summary judgment motions in the Chapter 11 cases of trucking company Yellow Corp. and its affiliates over $6.5 billion in withdrawal liability, a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge rejected challenges to two Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) regulations regarding federal funds awarded to multiemployer pension plans.
September 26, 2024
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of ERISA Suit Over $65M In Drug Rebates

NEWARK, N.J. — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 25 upheld dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit concerning approximately $65 million in drug rebates for lack of standing but said it doesn’t read two key precedents as “broadly” as the trial court did.
September 25, 2024
Class Settlements Totaling $14.5M Get Preliminary OK In Suit Over ESOP Deal

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Sept. 24 granted preliminary approval to two class settlements the plaintiffs said would sit “at the high end of the range of settlements resolving” similar employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claims, with a combined recovery of $14.5 million that would average “about $41,076 per Class Member before fees, costs, and expenses.”
September 24, 2024
Another ERISA Suit Over Use Of Retirement Plan Forfeitures Is Dismissed

SAN DIEGO — As Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims over use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement plan contributions become more widespread, a California federal judge granted dismissal of one of the first suits to focus on the issue but allowed leave to amend.
September 24, 2024
Cigna, Insureds Debate ERISA, UCL Impact On AI Claims Denial Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Individuals allegedly denied coverage by an artificial intelligence algorithm employed by Employee Retirement Income Security Act insurer Cigna Corp. debated whether the program’s use violated plan terms on how the company would review claims, preemption and whether California unfair competition law claims were properly pleaded in briefing over a motion to dismiss a third amended complaint.
September 24, 2024
DOL To Challenge Stay Of New Investment Advice Fiduciary Rule In 5th Circuit

Notices of appeal have been filed for two July rulings in Texas federal courts that imposed a nationwide stay of the effective date of a new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rule that redefines and broadens who is an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.