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Mealey's ERISA

  • February 20, 2026

    Amici Urge High Court To Review Federal Circuit Takings Ruling In Pension Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A retiree’s widow, public policy group Manhattan Institute (the Institute) and several law professors are among the amici curiae that filed briefs on Feb. 19 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari and reverse a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) “was not a physical taking and plaintiffs did not prove it was a regulatory taking” and therefore the attempt by a certified class of retirees to get federal compensation for cuts made to their vested pension benefits failed.

  • February 20, 2026

    Deal Including $13.4M Payment Proposed In ERISA Fees, Funds Lawsuit

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — In a settlement that a Massachusetts federal court has been asked to preliminarily approve, a class action where 401(k) plan participants challenge record-keeping and managed account fees and inclusion of two allegedly underperforming investment options would be resolved by a $13.4 million payment and nonmonetary relief; the parties reached a tentative agreement less than a month before a rare Employee Retirement Income Security Act jury trial was scheduled to begin.

  • February 20, 2026

    Hundreds Of NSA Suits Are Stayed Over Potential Shift To ERISA, State Law

    NEWARK, N.J. — Unofficially referring to one case as the lead, New Jersey federal judges have stayed hundreds of similar suits that medical providers initially filed under the No Surprises Act (NSA) but are expected to amend to assert Employee Retirement Income Security Act and unjust enrichment claims; an opposed pre-motion letter request concerning a dismissal bid is pending in that lead case.

  • February 19, 2026

    2nd Circuit Resolves MPPAA Interpretation Case In Employer’s Favor

    NEW YORK — Resolving what it said was “a split between two district courts in our Circuit” and saying the “case presents a novel legal question in this and other Circuits,” the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 18 affirmed an interpretation of the phrase “unfunded vested benefits” in the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) that reduced withdrawal liability from $1.8 million to zero for an exit caused by employees’ decision to switch unions.

  • February 18, 2026

    Attorney Fees Exceeding $96M Awarded In ERISA Residual Annuities Case

    NEW YORK — Wrapping up a decade-old Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over residual annuities (RAs) that resulted in a $332 million class settlement, a New York federal judge on Feb. 17 granted awards from the common fund as requested in amounts including $96.28 million for attorney fees and $10,000 for a service award.

  • February 18, 2026

    Judge: LTD Claimant Met Only Own-Occupation Definition Of Disability

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On de novo review of a case challenging termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a marketing agency account executive who was diagnosed with “an acute intractable headache,” a Michigan federal judge ruled that the claimant is entitled to benefits under the plan’s initial “regular occupation” definition of disability but not under the subsequent “any gainful occupation” definition.

  • February 18, 2026

    Suit That Former Physician’s Assistant Filed Over LTD Benefits Is Dropped

    LYNCHBURG, Va. — Pursuant to a joint stipulation, dismissal with prejudice has been entered in a suit that a former emergency room physician’s assistant filed against the claims administrator that terminated his long-term disability (LTD) benefits; the plaintiff said he “underwent a PET/CT scan that indicated Alzheimer’s dementia” and argued in part that discovery from other lawsuits has shown that the insurer’s reviewer “denies 85-90% of all disability claims she reviews.”

  • February 17, 2026

    California Federal Judge: Massachusetts Law Applies To Suit Over LTD Benefits

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A claims administrator’s decision to deny long-term disability (LTD) benefits to a former executive will be reviewed for abuse of discretion rather than de novo after a California federal judge on Feb. 13 ruled that because the policy has a Massachusetts choice of law clause, a California law that invalidates discretionary clauses does not apply.

  • February 17, 2026

    $42.7M Class Deal Reported In ERISA Forfeiture Case Against Providence Health

    SEATTLE — A case that is part of a wave of putative class actions challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions would settle for an estimated $42,724,532 under a deal a Washington federal court was asked to grant preliminary approval in a Feb. 13 motion.

  • February 13, 2026

    Pa. Federal Judge Partly Grants Motion To Compel In LTD Benefits Case

    WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Feb. 12 declined to compel production of “batting average” information and communications concerning state or federal investigations but ordered the administrator of a group long-term disability (LTD) policy to provide some of the information a claimant seeks regarding incentives for insurance adjusters and reviewing physicians, the administrator’s review policies and procedures and its use of a third-party medical review company.

  • February 13, 2026

    5th Circuit Uses Effective Vindication Doctrine In ERISA Cash Investment Case

    NEW ORLEANS — Becoming the eighth circuit to apply the effective vindication doctrine to Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered remand in the putative class suit over allegations that a bank holding company and related entities violated their fiduciary duties by, among other things, putting large portions of their retirement plan’s funds into proprietary cash investments; under the ruling, the lower court could compel arbitration of representative claims if it decides that the arbitration provisions that violate the doctrine are severable.

  • February 13, 2026

    Disability Retirement Denial Is Reversed Due To Inadequate Medical Reviews

    LONDON, Ky. — Concluding that there was not substantial evidence to support an independent medical examination (IME) on which the administrator relied and that the administrative record as a whole shows that the decision to deny disability retirement benefits was arbitrary, a Kentucky federal judge granted judgment in favor of a former ward clerk that he ruled is entitled to the benefits.

  • February 13, 2026

    On De Novo Review, Paramedic With Fibromyalgia Wins Retroactive LTD Benefits

    KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Saying the administrator of a long-term disability (LTD) policy “constructed a bar to Plaintiff’s claim which is neither present in the policy nor reflective of the medical reality that objective testing cannot definitively show the presence of very real conditions such as Plaintiff’s,” a Michigan federal judge ruled that a paramedic who suffers from fibromyalgia and myofascial pain is entitled to retroactive benefits, interest, reasonable attorney fees and costs.

  • February 12, 2026

    Federal Judge: Surveillance Videos Given ‘Undue Weight’ In LTD Benefits Cut

    BOSTON — Denying competing summary judgment motions and saying remand for reprocessing is appropriate when “the plan administrator has failed to comply with” Employee Retirement Income Security Act guidelines, a Massachusetts federal judge ordered the administrator to further review its termination of a school employee’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits.

  • February 11, 2026

    Airline In ERISA Case Involving ESG Ordered To Pay Nearly $4.6M In Attorney Fees

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas federal judge on Feb. 10 awarded a class $4,596,287.50 of the $7,907,760.60 it requested for attorney fees following a bench trial in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of nonparty investment management firms; he also denied a request for a $15,000 service award and clarified aspects of the injunctive relief ordered in the Sept. 30 final judgment denying monetary damages.

  • February 10, 2026

    LTD Insurer Objects To Order Allowing Discovery On Fiduciary Breach Claim

    MINNEAPOLIS — A long-term disability (LTD) insurer that is trying to get a federal magistrate judge’s discovery order reversed argues in a Minnesota federal court filing that the claimant should not have been allowed “to parse out conduct from an ordinary denial of benefits claim and re-brand it as a separate claim for breach of fiduciary duty and thereby obtain discovery in contravention of Eighth Circuit authority prohibiting discovery on” benefits claims asserted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • February 09, 2026

    Wit, Related Case Get New Remedies Order On Mental Health, Substance Use Claims

    SAN FRANCISCO — Superseding a November 2020 remedies order in related class actions over thousands of mental health and substance use disorder treatmentclaims, a California federal magistrate judge said in part that for five years, criteria that United Behavioral Health (UBH) adopts to implement a generally accepted standard of care (GASC) requirement in any plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “shall accurately reflect GASC” pursuant to a prior ruling in the case “and the requirements of any applicable state law.”

  • February 09, 2026

    5th Circuit Panel Lets Reversal Of Fee Award To NFL Disability Claimant Stand

    NEW ORLEANS — In a per curiam order denying panel rehearing issued without explanation, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals let stand its reversal of an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees to a former National Football League player who sued for a higher level of disability benefits than he was awarded, prevailed after a bench trial and then saw that favorable ruling reversed in a previous appeal.

  • February 09, 2026

    2nd Circuit Upholds Ruling For Health Plan In Suit Over Residential Treatment

    NEW YORK — In a summary order concerning a minor who had an eating disorder and mental health conditions, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of a health plan that stopped covering residential and partial hospitalization program (PHP) treatment following a claims administrator’s determination that such treatment was no longer needed under level of care (LOC) guidelines.

  • February 06, 2026

    Illinois Federal Judge: ERISA Forfeiture Case Mostly Survives Dismissal

    CHICAGO — Noting that the plan language “mandates the Plan Committee to utilize forfeitures to pay reasonable administrative expenses . . . before offsetting employer contributions,” an Illinois federal judge ruled that all claims except two prohibited transaction ones survive dismissal in a suit that is part of a wave of putative class cases challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions.

  • February 06, 2026

    2nd Circuit Addresses Standing For Representative ERISA Claims In Pension Case

    NEW YORK — Reversing a determination that the named plaintiff in the dispute over using a half-century-old mortality table to calculate joint and survivor annuities (JSAs) has standing “to seek monetary payments on behalf of the” pension plan, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 5 otherwise affirmed the lower court’s ruling in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case on interlocutory appeal.

  • February 06, 2026

    ERISA ‘Excessive Fee’ Settlements, Proposals Under $5M

    Class settlements below $5 million were proposed, granted preliminary approval or finalized in 17 “excessive fee” Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases between early November and late January.

  • February 06, 2026

    Suit Against Health Plan’s Third-Party Administrator Is Voluntarily Dismissed

    RICHMOND, Va. — Filing a joint stipulation in Virginia federal court, the parties in a case that an employer and its self-funded health plan filed against the plan’s third-party administrator (TPA) said they are dismissing with prejudice the case over allegations that the TPA violated Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary standards “by, among other things, (i) paying more for healthcare claims than was even billed, (ii) securing kickbacks from providers and affiliated intermediaries, (iii) double-paying claims, and (iv) pocketing rebates.”

  • February 05, 2026

    7th Circuit Finds No Substantial Compliance With Retirement Plan Requirements

    CHICAGO — Reversing because it concluded that a deceased retirement plan participant “did not substantially comply with the plan’s beneficiary-change requirements,” the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ordered entry of judgment in favor of the decedent’s ex-wife in the estate dispute involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • February 04, 2026

    Dismissing ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Case, Judge Gives Employer Outlier Win

    ST. LOUIS — Giving an employer an outlier victory in a putative class action that is similar to many other recent Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to tobacco surcharges, a Missouri federal judge on Feb. 3 dismissed the complaint with prejudice and said the statute at issue “does not impose a retroactive reimbursement requirement for tobacco cessation surcharges."