Mealey's ERISA
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August 21, 2024
High Risk Of Developing Complications From COVID-19 Rendered Doctor Disabled
SAN FRANCISCO — A disability insurer’s denial of a pediatrician’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was de novo wrong because the pediatrician’s high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and high risk of developing complications from the virus based on her underlying medical issues rendered her disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation, a California federal judge said in granting the pediatrician’s motion for judgment on the administrative record.
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August 21, 2024
8th Circuit Affirms Ruling For Multiemployer Funds In Miller Act Dispute
ST. LOUIS — In an Aug. 20 opinion affirming judgment for multiemployer employee funds, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in part that the terms of a subcontractor’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) obligate a contractor to pay attorney fees and liquidated damages awarded in the Miller Act dispute.
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August 20, 2024
After Bench Trial, 9th Circuit Partly Revives Pension Benefits Class Action
PASADENA, Calif. — Exercising its discretion to reach several issues in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act pension benefits class action, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued an Aug. 19 unpublished memorandum disposition reversing a partial grant of summary judgment and partly reversing judgment issued after a bench trial.
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August 20, 2024
Judge Certifies Class In Imprudence Case Over BlackRock Index TDFs
RICHMOND, Va. — Certification of a modified class has been granted in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over BlackRock LifePath Index target date funds (TDFs), with a Virginia federal judge saying, “That a small portion of unnamed class members who invested in the BlackRock TDFs did not suffer losses in their individual accounts due to the timing of their investments or for other reasons does not create intra-class conflicts.”
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August 16, 2024
6th Circuit Issues Partial Reversal In Multiemployer Fund Contribution Row
CINCINNATI — Citing a prior ruling that involved conflicting contracts and saying a genuine issue of material fact remains, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 15 partly reversed and remanded summary judgment for multiemployer funds in a fringe benefit contribution dispute.
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August 15, 2024
Judge Rules Missouri’s ESG Factor Rules Preempted, Grants Permanent Injunction
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Ruling against state officials on all claims, a Missouri federal judge on Aug. 14 granted summary judgment for a trade association and entered a statewide permanent injunction barring enforcement of two new Missouri rules the association said require “a state-authored script” for “incorporating a social or nonfinancial objective into investment advice.”
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August 15, 2024
Plaintiff Prevails In 3rd Dismissal Ruling In ERISA Forfeiture Cases
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Plaintiffs have now prevailed in two of the three rulings on dismissal motions in recent Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases filed against retirement plan sponsors for allegedly not using forfeited nonvested matching contributions to pay administrative expenses, with the California federal judge that issued the third ruling differentiating the claims from those in a similar case that was dismissed with leave to amend.
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August 14, 2024
2nd Circuit Revives Part Of ERISA Disclosure Suit Involving Converted Plan
NEW YORK — In an Aug. 13 ruling partly reversing dismissal of a putative class action over annual benefit statements provided after a traditional defined benefit retirement plan was converted to a cash balance plan, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires the statements to “unambiguously indicate a plan participant’s ‘total benefits accrued.’”
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August 13, 2024
3rd Circuit Appeal Filed Over Summary Judgment Against Class In ERISA Row
PHILADELPHIA — Retirement plan participants have filed a notice of appeal to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging summary judgment for Evonik Corp. and related entities in their Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action.
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August 12, 2024
3rd Circuit Won’t Rehear ERISA Case Over Belated Withdrawal Liability Bill
PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied rehearing of a case where a panel affirmed vacation of an arbitration award in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act dispute over withdrawal liability because a statutory requirement of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) was not met.
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August 12, 2024
Putative Class Action Focuses On TIAA Tool That Allegedly Favored Proprietary Annuities
NEW YORK — Alleging “an ongoing unlawful scheme to enhance corporate profits” based on a tool that they claim favored two proprietary annuities, plaintiffs who participate in university retirement plans filed a putative class action against Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) and Morningstar Inc. and related entities.
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August 12, 2024
2nd Circuit Sets Oral Argument In ERISA Appeal Of Jury Ruling Against Class
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set oral argument for Sept. 25 in an appeal involving whether the “could have” standard used in damages instructions is grounds for overturning judgment in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action that went before a jury, and Yale University and related appellees have filed a notice of supplemental authority regarding a sister circuit’s ruling.
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August 12, 2024
Respondents To High Court: ERISA Doesn’t Need A New ‘Arms-Length’ Carveout
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Asserting in their Aug. 9 respondent brief that the “case would have come out differently in exactly zero circuits,” retirement plan participants urge the U.S. Supreme Court to deny review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision regarding the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s prohibited transaction provision.
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August 12, 2024
TPA Urges 9th Circuit To Reverse ACA Discrimination Ruling Over Exclusions
PASADENA, Calif. — In a reply brief urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling that it violated the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s discrimination provision by administering exclusions of gender-affirming care, a third-party administrator (TPA) argues in part that it “‘exercised no control’ over the plan design.”
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August 12, 2024
Following Belknap, Judge Dismisses ERISA Annuity Row Over Mortality Assumptions
GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Agreeing with the reasoning of a 2022 decision the plaintiffs called an outlier, a Georgia federal judge granted dismissal of a putative class suit in which Southern Company Services Inc. retirees argued that using outdated, “unreasonable” assumptions and mortality tables to calculate pension benefits violates actuarial equivalence requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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August 09, 2024
5th Circuit Upholds Vacatur Of Agencies’ No Surprises Act Arbitration Regulation
NEW ORLEANS — In a ruling that drew a partial concurrence, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld vacation of regulations that three federal departments promulgated to “establish[] priorities for independent arbitrators appointed to resolve insurance reimbursement disputes pursuant” to the No Surprises Act (NSA).
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August 09, 2024
LTD Insurer Must Pay Retroactive, Future Benefits, Minnesota Federal Judge Says
MINNEAPOLIS — A disability plan participant is entitled to retroactive long-term disability (LTD) benefits and future LTD benefits because the plan participant met her burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that cognitive difficulties rendered her disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation as an attorney, a Minneapolis federal judge said in granting the plan participant’s motion for judgment on the administrative record.
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August 08, 2024
7th Circuit Affirms Parity Act Ruling For Insurer In Autism Treatment Coverage Row
CHICAGO — Affirming summary judgment for an insurer in a Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA or Parity Act) suit over autism spectrum disorder (ASD) treatments, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said a key shortcoming of the appellants’ argument was that their comparison focused only on pediatric chiropractic care while the statutory provision says “substantially all medical and surgical benefits.”
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August 08, 2024
LTD Insurer’s Denial Of Benefits Was Not Abuse Of Discretion, Judge Says
PHILADELPHIA — A long-term disability (LTD) insurer did not abuse its discretion in denying a claim for LTD benefits because the claimant did not suffer any lost income based on the employer’s decision to continue paying the employee after he stopped working, a Pennsylvania federal judge said Aug. 7 in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
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August 08, 2024
Stay Of DOL’s New Investment Advice Fiduciary Rule Expanded To Rest Of Changes
FORT WORTH, Texas — Agreeing with the reasoning of a peer who entered 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, a Texas federal judge expanded the stay to related prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) amendments that weren’t at issue in the other suit.
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August 08, 2024
9th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of ERISA Case Over Structured Alpha Funds
SAN FRANCISCO — Reversing dismissal of a putative class action against the fiduciaries of union carpenters’ retirement plans, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in an unpublished memorandum disposition that the carpenters “have sufficiently alleged a relative loss based on” investments “in two volatility hedge funds managed by Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC.”
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August 07, 2024
District Court Erred In Finding Disability Plan Abused Its Discretion, Panel Says
PHILADELPHIA — A district court erred in finding that a disability plan abused its discretion when it terminated a claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits for failure to provide proof of a continued disability because the plan properly considered all of the medical evidence and properly interpreted the plan’s “own occupation” language, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Aug. 6 in vacating and remanding the district court’s opinion.
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August 06, 2024
Disability Claimant Says Award Of Benefits, Not Remand, Is Appropriate Remedy
BALTIMORE — Reconsideration of a Maryland federal judge’s decision to remand a long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim is warranted because an award of benefits, rather than remand of the claim, is the appropriate form of relief, a disability claimant says in a reply brief in support of her motion for partial reconsideration of the judge’s ruling.
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August 06, 2024
Former NFL Player’s Motion To Reinstate Appeal Over Disability Benefits Granted
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 5 granted a former National Football League player’s motion to reinstate his appeal in a dispute over additional disability benefits owed under the NFL’s disability plan.
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August 06, 2024
Disability Insurer’s Denial Of LTD Claim Was Not De Novo Wrong, Judge Says
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A disability insurer’s denial of a long-term disability (LTD) claim was not de novo wrong because its decision is supported by the evidence in the administrative record and the claimant failed to provide any evidence to rebut the insurer’s basis for denial, a Florida federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.