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Benefits
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May 17, 2024
Many Plans Already In Front Of 11th Circ. Trans Health Ruling
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision that a county health plan's coverage exclusion for gender transition surgery violated federal anti-discrimination law likely won't have a big impact on plans because they have already made adjustments for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling the appeals court applied, experts say.
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May 16, 2024
Ex-Pistons Guard Denied Bail For Healthcare Scheme Appeal
A former Detroit Pistons point guard was denied bail Thursday while he appeals his conviction and 18-month prison sentence in a case where prosecutors accused ex-players of defrauding the NBA's healthcare plan.
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May 16, 2024
3rd Circ. Revives Wesco Retirees' ERISA Fee Case
The Third Circuit reinstated a proposed class action Thursday accusing Wesco Distribution Inc. of letting its employee retirement plan pay exorbitant administrative fees, ruling a trial court's "partly valid" criticisms of the suit weren't enough to warrant dismissal.
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May 16, 2024
IQVIA To Pay $3.5M To Resolve Ex-Workers' 401(k) Suit
Healthcare technology company IQVIA agreed to pay $3.5 million to end a 9,000-member class action accusing it of choosing investments that consistently underperformed and had excessive risk and expense for its $1.13 billion 401(k) plan, a filing in North Carolina federal court said.
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May 16, 2024
DOL Unveils Long-Delayed Abandoned Retirement Plan Rules
After being sidelined for more than a decade, a plan for expanding U.S. Department of Labor rules for terminating retirement plans abandoned by employers are moving forward again, the agency reported Thursday, along with a long-delayed role in the process for bankruptcy trustees.
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May 16, 2024
Citgo Retirees Win Class Cert. In Mortality Table Data Suit
An Illinois federal judge on Thursday conditionally granted class certification to Citgo retirees accusing the fuel company of shortchanging retirees by using outdated metrics to calculate early retirement payouts, but said the class definition must be narrowed further.
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May 16, 2024
Fla. Seeks To Halt Biden's ACA Trans Discrimination Rule
Florida urged a federal court to stop recently finalized regulations clarifying gender identity-based discrimination under the Affordable Care Act from taking effect, saying the new rules would force the state to abandon its health and safety laws or lose funding from the federal government.
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May 16, 2024
3 Firms Assist As AIG Sells $3.8B Corebridge Stake To Nippon
Latham & Watkins LLP is guiding Japan's Nippon Life Insurance Co. on a new deal to buy 120 million shares of Corebridge Financial Inc. common stock from AIG for $3.8 billion, with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP guiding Corebridge and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz representing AIG, the purveyors of insurance products said Thursday.
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May 15, 2024
Chancery Nixes BuzzFeed Worker Arbitration Bid
Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed from an arbitration access dispute on Wednesday 85 BuzzFeed Media Enterprises employees who sued for arbitration of a stock conversion right, rejecting claims that company employment agreements require Delaware courts to handle the issue.
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May 15, 2024
UnitedHealth Concealed DOJ Merger Investigation, Suit Says
UnitedHealth Group has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that it failed to disclose that the U.S. Department of Justice had reopened an antitrust investigation into the health insurance giant following its acquisition of a healthcare data company, and that top executives had sold more than $120 million of shares knowing about the investigation before a news report revealed it to the public.
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May 15, 2024
Lawmakers Move To Kill DOL's ERISA Fiduciary Regs
A group of 16 mostly Republican senators introduced a resolution Wednesday to overturn the U.S. Department of Labor's new rule broadening who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, saying the regulations threaten Americans' ability to save for retirement.
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May 15, 2024
Minn. Health System To Pay $800K To End 401(k) Suit
A health system agreed to pay $800,000 to end a proposed class action accusing it of failing to remove costly and underperforming investment funds from its $1.7 billion retirement plans, a filing Wednesday in Minnesota federal court said.
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May 15, 2024
Anthem Blue Cross Owes $3.8M For COVID Tests, Lab Says
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut should be forced to pay nearly $3.8 million for medical laboratory work, including COVID-19 tests, that the insurer either denied, underpaid or failed to acknowledge, according to a federal lawsuit by a New Jersey-based company with facilities in Pennsylvania.
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May 15, 2024
Arizona Judge Revives Opendoor Investors' Securities Suit
An Arizona federal judge has revived a consolidated securities class action accusing real estate company Opendoor Technologies Inc. of misleading investors about the benefits of its pricing algorithm software in order to go public in a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.
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May 15, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs AT&T's Win In Retirees' Early Benefits Suit
The Second Circuit declined Wednesday to undo a win for AT&T in a proposed class action brought by two retirees who sought retroactive pay after finding out they could have applied for retirement benefits earlier, ruling the denial of their bid for backdated benefits was on solid ground.
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May 15, 2024
Tesla Fires Back At Claims It Bullied Retired Law Professor
Tesla has pushed back against allegations that it tried to bully a retired law professor out of weighing in on an investor suit over CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, according to new filings in Delaware.
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May 15, 2024
Schnader Harrison Moves To Halt Retirement Class Action
Shuttered law firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP has urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to toss a former partner's proposed class claim the firm mismanaged employee retirement money, saying the complaint misclassifies the firm's payments to the retirement fund.
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May 15, 2024
Pet Telehealth Startup Canned Vet After Bite Injury, Suit Says
A Massachusetts veterinarian says she was lured to a mobile pet care startup but replaced months later by a younger vet after she claimed workers' compensation for a dog bite suffered on the job.
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May 15, 2024
Toss Of Bonus Bias Claim Too Short On Details, 5th Circ. Says
The Fifth Circuit has reinstated a Hispanic salesman's claim that he was denied $160,000 in bonuses by a construction contractor out of racial bias after he was fired, ruling the lower court didn't adequately explain why it nixed that allegation.
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May 14, 2024
Asset Manager Cops To $1.2B Venezuelan Oil Co. Fraud
An asset manager pled guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in a $1.2 billion scheme to embezzle money from Venezuela's state-owned oil company and launder it through false investment schemes in the U.S. and abroad.
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May 14, 2024
Apache Investors Get First OK On $65M Deal In Drilling Suit
A U.S. magistrate judge has given the first green light to a $65 million settlement resolving a lawsuit against oil and gas company Apache Corp. filed by investors alleging they were deceived by promises of a potentially lucrative drilling project that ultimately led to a $3 billion write-down when it went bust.
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May 14, 2024
Kraft Heinz Seeks To Ax Teamsters' Retiree Benefit Grievance
Kraft Heinz asked a Delaware federal judge Tuesday to step in and stop a Teamsters unit's healthcare grievance from going to arbitration, saying the union must use the dispute resolution process outlined in the company healthcare plan, not the grievance and arbitration process outlined in the union contract.
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May 14, 2024
New Ruling Aids In-Court 401(k) Suit Bid, DOL Tells 6th Circ.
The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Sixth Circuit to heed a decision out of the Second Circuit refusing to compel arbitration in a federal benefits lawsuit, arguing that the appellate panel should join four other circuits in rejecting an employer's attempt to force claims out of court.
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May 14, 2024
7th Circ. Seems Wary Of Jurisdiction Over Union Fund Misuse
Two Seventh Circuit judges on Tuesday pressed the U.S. Department of Labor to address how much authority individual employers had as part of an allegedly mismanaged multiemployer benefit fund, saying the question is crucial to determine whether the agency properly won a federal court injunction.
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May 13, 2024
Tesla Threatened To Fire Holland & Knight, Law Prof Says
Tesla tried to bully a law professor out of filing an amicus brief in investors' suit over Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, in part by threatening to fire the company's longtime outside counsel at Holland & Knight LLP if the professor submitted his brief, according to a filing Monday in Delaware.
Expert Analysis
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Benefits Limitations Period Ruling Carries ERISA Implications
The First Circuit's recent decision in Smith v. Prudential — over enforcing a benefits claim limitations period that expires before the claim accrued — has ramifications for Employee Income Security Act cases, where limitations issues can arise in the termination of ongoing benefit payments rather than an initial application for benefits, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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When Patients Have Standing For Hospital Antitrust Suits
Brown v. Hartford Healthcare Corp., recently decided by a Connecticut state court, provides a useful examination of how antitrust standing issues may be analyzed when patients directly sue a healthcare system for anti-competitive conduct, says Charles Honart at Stevens & Lee.
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What 3rd Circ. Gets Wrong About Arbitration Enforcement
The Third Circuit and other courts should correct their current law, exemplified by the Third Circuit's recent decision in Henry v. Wilmington Trust, requiring a motion to dismiss based on an arbitration clause because it conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and — with regard to the improper-venue approach — U.S. Supreme Court precedent, says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.
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Series
Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.
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The SEC's Cooled Down But Still Spicy Private Fund Rules
Timothy Spangler and Lindsay Trapp at Dechert consider recently finalized U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, which significantly alter the scope of obligations private fund advisers must meet under the Investment Advisers Act, noting the absence of several contentious proposals and litigation that could result in implementation delays.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.
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Pa. City Ch. 9 Ruling Raises Municipal Financing Concerns
A Pennsylvania district court’s recent ruling in a Chapter 9 case filed by the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, strengthens the foundations of the municipal bond market, but also demonstrates that bankruptcy courts continue to struggle with some of the features of municipal revenue bonds and issue rulings that contradict market expectations, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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Series
Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.
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What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance
Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories
The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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How Mental Health Ruling Paves Road For Equal Coverage
The Tenth Circuit’s recent ruling in E.W. v. Health Net, which clarified the pleading requirements necessary to establish a Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act violation, is a win for plaintiffs as it opens the door to those who have been denied coverage for behavioral health treatment to prove a mental health parity violation, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.