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Mealey's ERISA

  • August 14, 2025

    11th Circuit Affirms Ruling For Insurer In LTD Dispute Involving Sedentary Work

    ATLANTA — Affirming a ruling for an insurer that terminated long-term disability (LTD) benefits based on its determination that the claimant is capable of performing sedentary work, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an unpublished per curiam opinion issued Aug. 13 concluded that the claimant didn’t show that the lower court erred.

  • August 14, 2025

    Third-Party Administrator’s Bid To Dismiss Remanded ERISA Suit Fails

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For “the reasons cited in full from the bench,” a Michigan federal judge declined to dismiss an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit that the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently revived; the case that a company filed against the third-party administrator (TPA) of its self-funded health benefits plan includes allegations regarding a shared savings program (SSP) and so-called flip logic.

  • August 13, 2025

    $299,000 Class Deal Wins Final OK In ERISA Row Over Plan’s Tobacco Surcharge

    CHICAGO — Resolving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over annual $1,152 surcharges imposed on about 431 health plan participants who use tobacco, an Illinois federal judge on Aug. 12 gave final approval to a $299,000 class settlement and made awards in the amounts requested, including $99,666.67 for attorney fees and a $5,000 case contribution award.

  • August 13, 2025

    After Bench Trial, Judge Gives Plan Sponsor Win In ERISA Imprudence Row

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Following a four-day Employee Retirement Income Security Act bench trial in a suit over a retirement plan’s recordkeeping fees and share classes, a North Carolina federal judge on Aug. 12 found not only that the class of more than 55,000 participants didn’t establish any breach of the plan sponsor’s fiduciary duty of prudence but also that the sponsor’s process was prudent.

  • August 13, 2025

    Judge Trims Fees, Service Awards In $7.15M Class Settlement Of ERISA Case

    BOSTON — With a Massachusetts federal judge granting final approval, an Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over a profit sharing plan settled on a class basis for $7.15 million with a reported average gross recovery of $89,000; however, the judge awarded reduced attorney fees and service awards.

  • August 12, 2025

    Lab’s Motion To Reconsider Partial Dismissal Of COVID Test Repayment Claims Denied

    NEWARK, N.J. — In a lawsuit seeking reimbursement from health insurers for COVID-19 testing, a New Jersey judge on Aug. 11 denied a medical testing laboratory’s motion for reconsideration of her order dismissing claims based on retroactive assignments of rights by beneficiaries of plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and breach of implied contract claims.

  • August 12, 2025

    Suit Over Airline’s LTD Plan Is Voluntarily Dismissed After Resolution Report

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A putative class complaint that a disabled pilot filed over a May 2024 plan revision that he alleged resulted in underpayment of long-term disability (LTD) benefits was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on Aug. 11 after the defendants told the Texas federal court in a dismissal motion that the pilot’s union had already gotten the issues resolved through a Railway Labor Act (RLA) dispute-resolution process.

  • August 12, 2025

    Amici Support 4th Circuit Review Bid Re Standing Ruling In Lawsuit Over PRT

    RICHMOND, Va. — A petition for permission to file an interlocutory appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding a ruling that retirees had standing to file a putative class lawsuit that is part of a much-watched recent string of Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) is unopposed and has garnered two supporting briefs from amici curiae; among other things, the retirees allege that the use of offshore captive reinsurers makes annuity providers riskier.

  • August 11, 2025

    9th Circuit Briefing Wraps Up In 1st ERISA Forfeiture Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — Initial briefing has concluded in the most advanced of five appeals that have been filed over rulings in cases challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions, with the appellant who is seeking revival of the putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case referencing two amicus curiae briefs in his reply filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • August 11, 2025

    5th Circuit Mostly Vacates, Remands Row Over Assignment Of Health Care Claims

    NEW ORLEANS — Concluding in part that the lower court “ignored the Physician Groups’ arguments about ambiguities in contract language and applied the wrong legal standard in determining whether assignments to the Physician Groups were valid,” the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 8 mostly vacated and remanded summary judgment against health insurance plans in a reimbursement dispute over out-of-network care.

  • August 11, 2025

    $6.9M Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Imprudence Row Over Fees And Funds

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal magistrate judge granted final approval to a $6.9 million class settlement of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit involving recordkeeping fees and proprietary target date funds (TDFs); according to retirement plan participants, the gross amount is “approximately 12% to 38% of damages” estimated by their expert.

  • August 08, 2025

    Extra-Record Discovery On Purported Conflict Of Interest Is Denied In LTD Row

    NEWARK, N.J. — Concluding that discovery requests “are not only unjustified under the conflict of interest exception to the” Employee Retirement Income Security Act “record rule, but not proportional to the needs of this case,” a New Jersey federal magistrate judge denied a pharmacist’s request to allow discovery beyond the administrative record in her suit challenging termination of her long-term disability (LTD) benefits.

  • August 08, 2025

    Trump Signs Executive Order Regarding Private Market Investments For 401(k)s

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Aug. 7 executive order concerning 401(k)s and other defined-contribution retirement plans, President Donald J. Trump directed reexamination of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) “past and present guidance regarding a fiduciary’s duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 . . . in connection with making available to participants an asset allocation fund that includes investments in” private market investments and other “alternative assets.”

  • August 07, 2025

    Fiduciary Breach Claim Partly Survives In Long-Running Insurance Coverage Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — After more than a decade of litigation that includes numerous appellate court rulings in a class action over thousands of mental health and substance use disorder treatmentclaims, a California federal magistrate judge ruled that part of a breach of fiduciary claim survives and exhaustion as to that remaining claim is not required or is excused.

  • August 07, 2025

    6th Circuit Makes First Impression Ruling On Remedy In Withdrawal Liability Row

    CINCINNATI — Deciding a dispute it said involves “a matter of first impression,” the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 6 affirmed a ruling that upheld both an arbitrator’s conclusion that an actuary’s withdrawal liability estimate violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because it was not his “best estimate” and the arbitrator’s remedy, then declined to award attorney fees for the appeal.

  • August 07, 2025

    Judge Upholds STD Benefits Termination Under Arbitrary And Capricious Standard

    TULSA, Okla. — Rejecting an argument for de novo review, an Oklahoma federal judge upheld termination of short-term disability (STD) benefits in a case where the claimant said he was unable to work because of depression and memory loss.

  • August 06, 2025

    $8.2M Class Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Case Involving Target Date Funds

    ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act retirement plan case over the inclusion of Northern Trust target date funds (TDFs) and other purported pension benefit plan mismanagement has been closed after a Pennsylvania federal judge granted final approval to an $8.2 million class settlement.

  • August 06, 2025

    In 2-1 Ruling, 11th Circuit Affirms Ruling For Fund In Withdrawal Liability Row

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided a Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) statutory interpretation question that panel members described using words like “tough” in a 2-1 decision that drew both a concurrence and a dissent, affirming a withdrawal liability ruling in favor of a multiemployer pension fund.

  • August 06, 2025

    9th Circuit Partly Reverses Arbitration Order In ERISA Imprudence Lawsuit

    PASADENA, Calif. — In an unpublished memorandum disposition ruling in part that an arbitration agreement “is valid and enforceable unless Plaintiffs’ unconscionability defenses are successful,” the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a partial reversal in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenging management of a 401(k) and remanded for the lower court to consider those defenses.

  • August 06, 2025

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

    Class settlements below $5 million have been finalized or proposed in 18 “excessive fee” Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases between late April and early August.

  • August 05, 2025

    9th Circuit Uses Effective Vindication Doctrine In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Case

    PASADENA, Calif. — Calling the holding in the tobacco surcharge case “consistent with” decisions that five sister circuits issued in a variety of Employee Retirement Income Security Act disputes in the past few years, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 4 ruled in part that a health plan arbitration provision’s “representative action waiver violates the effective vindication doctrine and is unenforceable.”

  • August 05, 2025

    6th Circuit Affirms Ruling Against Union Seeking To Boot Trustees It Appointed

    CINCINNATI — Saying in part that any purported harms “appear to be monetarily compensable,” the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed denial of a union’s request for a preliminary injunction that, among other things, would have removed two union-appointed trustees from the board of a multiemployer welfare benefit plan that provides health benefits.

  • August 04, 2025

    7th Circuit Rules Termination Notice Sufficient In Withdrawal Liability Row

    CHICAGO — Ruling in part that an employer provided sufficient notice that it was terminating a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal vacated a $166,350.75 attorney fee award and reversed summary judgment that had been entered against an employer that withdrew from a multiemployer pension plan.

  • August 01, 2025

    6th Circuit Affirms Denial Of ‘Fees For Fees’ Motion In ERISA Coverage Row

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued an unpublished opinion affirming denial of a request to award $75,460 in attorney fees for work that happened in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act coverage dispute over back surgery after the insurer decided during court-ordered reprocessing that it would pay the claim.

  • July 31, 2025

    Ark. Federal Judge Says Law Banning PBMs From Owning Pharmacies Likely To Fail

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A recently signed law that bans pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) from owning a pharmacy business in Arkansas likely violates the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause and is likely preempted by federal law, an Arkansas federal judge ruled, granting motions for a preliminary injunction.