NEW YORK — Roughly 15 months after oral argument 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, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) told the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals it wants to withdraw an amicus curiae brief it filed during the Biden administration because the agency “has reconsidered its position on shifting the burden on loss causation for claims alleging a breach of fiduciary duty.”

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act pension benefits class action the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly revived in November 2024 after a bench trial would be resolved for $21.5 million under a settlement proposal the plaintiff asked a California federal court to grant preliminary approval.

According to Shepard’s, as of Dec. 30, 35 rulings issued by federal courts, state courts, courts in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and the Federal Trade Commission have cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s June  decision in Free Speech Coal., Inc. v. Paxton, a case in which the high court ruled that a Texas law requiring certain websites publishing sexually explicit content to verify the age of those visiting the websites to ensure they are adults did not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas federal judge granted a motion for preliminary injunction by an organization representing Texas students seeking to stop the enforcement of certain provisions of a state law that requires age verification and parental consent for minors prior to downloading a mobile app, finding “a likelihood that, when considered on the merits,” the law violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“Voluntary” accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity insurance programs are the focus of four recent putative class actions filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act against large employers and insurance brokers, with the plaintiffs alleging that they paid “excessive and unreasonable premiums” because of mismanagement and prohibited transactions.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge granted summary judgment to a railroad company, barring further litigation of pre-2019 mine subsidence claims but denied the company’s request for permanent injunctive relief; in the same order, the judge rejected a reinsurer’s cross-motion argument that claims are acquired only upon payment, asserting that state law ties acquisition to reimbursement documentation and that prior successor-liability rulings foreclosed relitigation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judge’s ruling appointing a receiver over a foreign company’s insurance assets regardless of where those assets exist was improper and conflicts with various other court rulings, a Canadian asbestos defendant tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a reply in support of its petition for a writ of certiorari.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Supreme Court justice administratively stayed pending further consideration two rulings by the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals enforcing the National Labor Relations Board’s decision against a Pittsburgh newspaper.