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Mealey's ERISA

  • July 23, 2025

    Interlocutory Appeal Certified On Standing In PRT Case That Survived Dismissal

    GREENBELT, Md. — Part of a key ruling in 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 headed to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a Maryland federal judge on July 22 granted an opposed motion to certify for interlocutory appeal.

  • July 23, 2025

    9th Circuit Reverses Ruling For Fund In Withdrawal Liability Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued an unpublished memorandum disposition reversing and remanding a ruling against a multiemployer fund and its trustees in a withdrawal liability dispute involving the question of whether there was a “controlled group.”

  • July 22, 2025

    Citing Deemed Admissions, 2nd Circuit Affirms Ruling For Multiemployer Funds

    NEW YORK — Affirming summary judgment against two corporations in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over allegedly delinquent fringe benefit contributions and dues checkoffs, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 21 upheld a lower court’s handling of deemed implicit admissions and concluded that the corporations failed to raise any genuine disputes of material fact.

  • July 22, 2025

    DOL Kicks Off Advisory Opinion Program With Focus On Racial Equity Program

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Regulations and Interpretations on July 21 issued its first advisory opinion under President Donald J. Trump; rescinding a 2023 advisory opinion regarding an Action for Racial Equity Asset Manager Program, the DOL said Citigroup Inc. (Citi) “should take immediate action to end all illegal activity within its Racial Equity Program and any other initiative, plan, program, or scheme it operates under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

  • July 22, 2025

    Ruling Policy Limitation Enforceable, 9th Circuit Upholds LTD Claim Denial

    SAN FRANCISCO — Issuing an unpublished memorandum disposition affirming that the preexisting conditions limitation (PECL) “is enforceable as applied” in the denial of a long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals did not reach a dispute regarding the applicable standard of review.

  • July 22, 2025

    Suit Over Allegedly Outdated Pension Assumptions Mostly Survives Summary Judgment

    SAN FRANCISCO — A putative class action challenging the use of allegedly outdated assumptions to calculate annuities for married pension plan participants is proceeding toward a bench trial after a California federal judge mostly denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and denied their motion to exclude the plaintiffs’ expert.

  • July 21, 2025

    7th Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment In ERISA Delinquent Contributions Row

    ST. LOUIS — Concluding that there is a genuine dispute regarding an agent’s “intent to be personally bound by the terms of the trust agreement,” the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment against the sole member of a dissolved company in a multiemployer plan Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, also vacating an associated award of attorney fees.

  • July 18, 2025

    6th Circuit Rules Against Top Hat Plan Participants In Preemption, Remedies Row

    CINCINNATI — Ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act expressly preempts state law claims and that lost monetary benefits are not equitable relief, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 17 affirmed judgment for the administrator of so-called “top hat” deferred compensation and retirement plans.

  • July 18, 2025

    9th Circuit Vacates ERISA Ruling Over Record Augmentation Issue

    PASADENA, Calif. — Ruling in an unpublished memorandum disposition that a trial court erred “by not allowing for augmentation of the administrative record despite finding [appellee UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co.’s] initial claims denial explanations deficient under” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a ruling over health plan coverage for surgical sessions in which two procedures were performed.

  • July 17, 2025

    Appellants, Amici Express Many Criticisms Re ERISA Conversion Row To 5th Circuit

    HOUSTON — Advancing arguments regarding issues of standing, statute of repose, successor liability and class certification, appellants and prominent amici curiae filed briefs urging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse judgment for the class in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over the 1989 conversion of a defined benefit plan that used a final average pay formula to a retirement accumulation plan (RAP) cash balance plan.

  • July 16, 2025

    Nearly $2M Settlement Of ERISA Forfeiture Row Wins Preliminary OK

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A proposed $1,995,000 class settlement is proceeding after a California federal judge on July 15 granted a preliminary approval motion in which a plaintiff whose key claims regarding the use of forfeited nonvested retirement plan contributions to offset the plan sponsor’s future matching contributions survived dismissal called the Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit “the first and only case to reach settlement on this novel theory of recovery.”

  • July 15, 2025

    Benefits To Be Reinstated For Claimant In Migraine Disability Lawsuit

    SAN FRANCISCO — On de novo review of the termination of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for an employment law firm partner diagnosed with vestibular migraine and tinnitus, a California federal judge found in favor of the claimant and directed that the benefits be retroactively reinstated.

  • July 15, 2025

    Summary Judgment Denied In Disability Benefits Row Involving Notice, Cognition

    BUFFALO, N.Y. — Admitting a declaration that was not part of the administrative record and concluding in part “that procedural irregularities call into question the fairness and clarity of the decision-making process,” a New York federal magistrate judge denied cross-motions in a disability benefits case that involves late notice and a claimant who reportedly has cognitive issues after receiving treatment including radiation for an aggressive form of brain cancer.

  • July 14, 2025

    Colorado Federal Judge Upholds Denial Of Attorney’s COVID-Linked LTD Claim

    DENVER — Ruling against an attorney who unsuccessfully sought long-term disability (LTD) benefits because of fatigue and cognitive issues attributed to long COVID-19, a Colorado federal judge concluded that denial of the claim was not arbitrary and capricious; among other things, the judge said she “cannot conclude that Defendant failed to engage in a meaningful dialogue with Plaintiff.”

  • July 14, 2025

    11th Circuit Sets Argument In Exhaustion Appeal Involving NFL Disability Plan

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for Aug. 13 in an appeal where a former NFL player who argued that he should have been awarded total and permanent (T&P) disability benefits a decade earlier than he was seeks reversal of a dismissal ruling that was based on failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

  • July 11, 2025

    Split 11th Circuit OKs Vacatur Of Arbitration Award Arising From Severance Row

    ATLANTA — In an 11-page per curiam ruling described in a 65-page dissent as doing “the unthinkable,” the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 10 affirmed vacatur of an award that resulted from pro se arbitration over severance pay and concerned an Employee Retirement Income Security Act discrimination claim that the majority concluded the appellant never raised.

  • July 10, 2025

    DOL, Other Amici Urge 9th Circuit To Uphold Dismissal Of ERISA Forfeiture Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — On July 8 and 9, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and other amici curiae opposing revival of a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenge to a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions weighed in on the much-watched Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dispute.

  • July 10, 2025

    Judge OKs Partly Vacating ‘New Interpretation’ Of ERISA Fiduciary Test

    DALLAS — Without substantive explanation, a Texas federal judge on July 9 overruled objections to a June 2023 report and recommendation, thereby vacating part of a 2020 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) “new interpretation” of a test for whether financial professionals are acting as investment advice fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • July 10, 2025

    2nd Circuit Lets ERISA Determination Stand In Deferred Compensation Row

    NEW YORK —  In a July 9 summary order, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed interlocutory cross-appeals on the grounds that it lacked jurisdiction in the dispute that involves arbitration and drew four briefs from amici curiae; the appellate court therefore let stand a determination that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act governs the compensation incentive and equity incentive plans at issue in a suit over a Morgan Stanley deferred compensation program.

  • July 10, 2025

    Order Vacated, Case Dismissed In LTD Benefits Row Involving COVID Risk

    SAN FRANCISCO — After vacating an August 2024 order and judgment that were in favor of a pediatrician who sought long-term disability (LTD) benefits based on her high risk of exposure to COVID-19, a California federal judge dismissed the case with prejudice pursuant to the parties’ stipulation.

  • July 09, 2025

    California Federal Magistrate Rules Claimant Eligible For 2 Years Of LTD Benefits

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a decision that involved weighing the opinions of numerous doctors, a California federal magistrate judge ruled that a claimant who held a “demanding managerial” role before saying that anxiety, depression and atypical autism made her unable to work is entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits “for the two-year mental disorder benefit period” and is eligible to seek attorney fees.

  • July 09, 2025

    10th Circuit Won’t Award Attorney Fees For Presuit Appeal In LTD Benefits Row

    DENVER — Affirming dismissal of a case filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 8 rejected a bid to make a long-term disability (LTD) insurer pay attorney fees for an administrative appeal that got benefits reinstated.

  • July 08, 2025

    Judge Upholds Denial Of ‘Any Occupation’ LTD Benefits On De Novo Review

    MINNEAPOLIS — Upholding denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits under an “any gainful occupation” standard on de novo review, a Minnesota federal judge said in part that the denial “was in lockstep with” restrictions on the claimant at the time and that a treating physician’s efforts to retroactively “walk back” those restrictions “do not change things.”

  • July 08, 2025

    Parties Outline Discovery Positions For Phase II Of ESOP Lawsuit

    PHOENIX — Litigation continues in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over a $105 million employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deal after a bench trial, with a joint filing in Arizona federal court where the parties dispute whether a recreational vehicle company should participate in “Phase II” discovery.

  • July 08, 2025

    Judge Says LTD Plan Must Take Another Look At Denial After Deadline Snafu

    SEATTLE — Ruling that equitable estoppel bars an untimeliness argument against a long-term disability (LTD) claimant who was given an incorrect administrative appeal deadline, a federal judge in Washington concluded that the correct remedy is remand “to the LTD plan administrator for review based on the full record, including the now-available post-denial medical information and literature involving long COVID.”