Benefits

  • May 19, 2025

    Atty Says Texas Firm Fired Her For Taking Protected Leave

    A former associate at a prominent Texas personal injury firm who claims she was fired after she took medical leave for a disabling eye condition and bereavement leave upon her mother's death has brought a disability discrimination suit against the firm and associated entities in federal court in Houston.

  • May 19, 2025

    X Failed To Pay Promised Severance, Ex-Workers Say

    X, the company formerly known as Twitter, illegally reneged on its promise to keep in place its policy to provide certain severance payments to terminated employees after Elon Musk took over the social media company, a lawsuit filed in Washington federal court said.

  • May 19, 2025

    Ex-Litigator Settles Disability Bias Suit Against Wilson Elser

    A former Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP litigator on Monday agreed to permanently drop his federal disability bias suit against the firm, after the sides came to a confidential resolution.

  • May 16, 2025

    Firms Eye Setoff Shielding $66M Conn. Life Insurance Policies

    Three investment companies holding PHL Variable Insurance Co. policies asked a Connecticut state court judge on Friday to allow them to set off in-force life insurance policy premiums against their $66 million in matured policies, fearing they could receive only a fraction of their investments while the state supervises the struggling insurer.

  • May 16, 2025

    SEC's Atkins Previews Possible Changes To CEO Pay Rules

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins announced Friday the agency plans to review rules requiring public companies to report the earnings of CEOs and other high-level executives, highlighting a possible area of regulatory change for the now Republican-led commission.

  • May 16, 2025

    HHS Says Pain Clinic's Delay Hurts $11M Bill Challenge

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday fought a pain clinic's bid in North Carolina federal court for a pretrial win in the clinic's suit challenging $11 million in overpayments for urine drug screening tests, saying the clinic waited too long to bring evidence that the testing was justified.

  • May 16, 2025

    Mich. Judge Gives Final OK To $55M Pandemic Aid Deal

    A Michigan state judge has granted final approval to a $55 million settlement between the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency and people who allege their benefits were improperly clawed back without notice during the pandemic.

  • May 16, 2025

    Intuit Strikes $2M Deal To Wrap Up 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

    Intuit will pay $2 million to end a proposed class action alleging its use of forfeited 401(k) funds to cover employer contributions rather than plan expenses violated federal benefits law, the former employee leading the suit said Friday in California federal court.

  • May 16, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds California's Employee Classification Test

    California's worker-friendly employee classification test doesn't violate the dormant commerce and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday, upholding the lower court denial of a preliminary injunction.

  • May 16, 2025

    Stris & Maher Taps DOL Appellate Chief For ERISA Litigation

    Trial and appellate litigation boutique Stris & Maher LLP has expanded its Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation practice with the addition of a veteran U.S. Department of Labor attorney.

  • May 16, 2025

    Trucking Co. Worker Says Tobacco Surcharge Violates ERISA

    An employee of Marten Transport Ltd. is suing the trucking company in Wisconsin federal court, alleging that a tobacco surcharge in its health plan violates federal antidiscrimination law.

  • May 15, 2025

    Lennar Workers Should Arbitrate 401(k) Suit, Judge Says

    Current and former Lennar Corp. employees should have to individually arbitrate a proposed class action claiming the construction company loaded its 401(k) plan with excessive fees and lackluster investment options, a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended, finding the plan's arbitration provision doesn't conflict with federal benefits law.

  • May 15, 2025

    Feds Freeze Parity Enforcement As Agencies Rethink Regs

    Federal agencies said Thursday they will hold off on enforcing a rule requiring employer group health plans to analyze how they restrict coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatments, citing ongoing litigation aimed at blocking the policy and broader plans to reevaluate enforcement priorities.

  • May 15, 2025

    Flooring Company Miscalculates Overtime, Ex-Manager Says

    A flooring and tile company failed to consider bonuses and incentive compensation it pays employees when calculating their overtime pay rates, a former manager alleged in a proposed class and collective action filed in New Jersey federal court.

  • May 15, 2025

    House Bill Aims To Nix FMLA Leave Cap For Married Couples

    A bipartisan group of U.S. House members floated a bill that aims to strike a provision from the Family and Medical Leave Act that limits leave for married couples who work for the same employer.

  • May 14, 2025

    Chicken Price-Fixing Atty Fees Challenged Again At 7th Circ.

    A class objector in Chicago's massive consolidated suit over broiler chicken price-fixing is again urging the Seventh Circuit to vacate an attorney fee award for class counsel in a $181 million deal for chicken buyers, saying the district court erred in calculating the $51.66 million awarded on remand.

  • May 14, 2025

    Aetna, Cigna Can't Nix Suit Over Late Emergency Benefit Bills

    A Connecticut federal judge ruled Wednesday that Aetna and Cigna can't fully escape a suit from six air ambulance companies claiming the insurers owe $20 million in unpaid or late bills to cover emergency services, ruling they have the legal authority to seek the missing cash.

  • May 14, 2025

    Holding Co. Beats Suit Over 401(k) Investment Roster

    A Berkshire Hathaway-owned industrial holding company doesn't have to face a proposed class action claiming it filled its 401(k) plan with underperforming proprietary target date funds, with an Illinois federal judge faulting plan participants' efforts to compare those funds with other potential investments.

  • May 14, 2025

    Judge Orders Boeing To Share Disclosures, Allow Depositions

    A Virginia federal judge has said Boeing must share disclosures about its "false-stamping" of aircraft testing with three state pension systems that accuse the company and its executives of putting profits over safety, and that some board members must sit for depositions.

  • May 14, 2025

    Starbucks, Ex-VP Settle $830K Bonus Repayment Suit

    Starbucks has struck a deal with a former senior vice president the company previously accused of failing to repay part of his $1 million signing bonus after he quit, according to filings in New Jersey federal court Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2025

    Wells Fargo Asks 9th Circ. To Undo 'Sham' Hiring Class Cert.

    Wells Fargo has asked the Ninth Circuit to intervene and undo the class certification granted to investors who have claimed that the bank's alleged practice of conducting "sham" interviews to meet diversity quotas harmed the bank's stock price when the truth came to light.

  • May 13, 2025

    Nike Seeks Dismissal Of Investors' Sales Strategy Fraud Suit

    Sportswear company Nike and several of its top executives have urged an Oregon federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging the company's stock value declined as it continued to mislead investors on the success of a change in sales strategy, saying the suit improperly uses hindsight to claim fraud.

  • May 13, 2025

    Industrial Retailer Misused Forfeited 401(k) Funds, Suit Says

    Industrial supply company W.W. Grainger Inc. unlawfully used forfeited 401(k) funds to reduce its contributions to the retirement plan rather than cover expenses, costing plan participants millions of dollars in potential retirement benefits, according to a proposed class action in Illinois federal court.

  • May 13, 2025

    UnitedHealth Says Lack Of Contract Sinks Coverage Suit

    UnitedHealth entities urged a Michigan federal judge Monday to toss a lawsuit from a medical supply company that alleges the insurer issued a blanket block on its claims, saying the supplier has no written contract to support its breach of contract allegations.

  • May 13, 2025

    SEC's Uyeda Encourages Opening 401(k)s To Private Assets

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mark Uyeda said Tuesday that regulators should explore how retirement accounts could expand to include private equity investments, arguing that such a shift would put 401(k) plans on par with pension funds.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Nvidia Case's Potential Impact On Securities Class Actions

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    In Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder, the U.S. Supreme Court could strip lower courts of their long-standing ability and obligation to holistically weigh all relevant facts supporting plaintiffs' allegations of securities fraud, which would have a wide-ranging impact on securities fraud class actions in the U.S., say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Short-Seller Implications Of 10th Circ.'s Overstock Decision

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    The Tenth Circuit's Oct. 15 decision in Overstock Securities Litigation provides clarity on the pleading standard for a market manipulation claim under the Exchange Act, and suggests that short sellers might not be able to rely on the fraud-on-the-market presumption typically invoked by securities plaintiffs, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Employer Lessons From Mass. 'Bonus Not Wages' Ruling

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    In Nunez v. Syncsort, a Massachusetts state appeals court recently held that a terminated employee’s retention bonus did not count as wages under the state’s Wage Act, illustrating the nuanced ways “wages” are defined by state statutes and courts, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Tobacco Surcharge Suits Spotlight Wellness Reg Compliance

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    A mounting wave of tobacco-user surcharge litigation against employee benefit plans highlights compliance challenges associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act wellness regulations, and reminds plan sponsors to ask existential questions about the utility of their wellness programs, say Finn Pressly and Lesley Wolf at Ballard Spahr.

  • What To Know About New Employment Laws In Fla.

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    Florida employers should familiarize themselves with recent state laws, and also federal legislation, on retirement benefits, teen labor and heat exposure, with special attention to prohibitions against minors performing dangerous tasks, as outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, say Katie Molloy and Cayla Page at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

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