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Mealey's ERISA

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.”
July 07, 2025
Applying Recent High Court Decision, Judge Grants Limited TRO For Iowa PBM Law

DES MOINES, Iowa — Noting “the Supreme Court’s recent narrowing of district courts’ ability to impose injunctive relief beyond that which is necessary to afford relief to named parties,” an Iowa federal judge imposed an ex parte temporary restraining order (TRO) barring enforcement of a new Iowa pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) law as to the plaintiffs and the members of one of those plaintiffs; the judge concluded that the plaintiffs sufficiently showed that the provisions “are unenforceable as preempted by [the Employee Retirement Income Security Act] and violative of the First Amendment.”
July 07, 2025
$48.5M Deal Gets Initial OK In ERISA Fees Suit After Federal Jury Verdict

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has preliminarily approved a settlement that would include a $48.5 million payment and other relief in a suit over the record-keeping and administration fees of a multiple employer retirement plan (MEP); in the granted motion, the class of retirement plan participants said the deal would be nearly $10 million higher than the verdict a jury issued in their favor.
July 03, 2025
U.S. High Court Amends Granted Question In ERISA Withdrawal Liability Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on July 3 amended a limited question granted June 30 in an appeal concerning a Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) withdrawal liability decision to match the proposed reformulated question presented by the federal government in an amicus curiae brief urging the high court to grant the petition.
July 02, 2025
$48.5M Deal Is Proposed In ERISA Fees Suit After Federal Jury Verdict

NEW YORK — Saying the total would be nearly $10 million higher than the verdict a jury issued in their favor, a class of retirement plan participants who challenged the record-keeping and administration fees of a multiple employer retirement plan (MEP) on July 2 asked a New York federal court for preliminary approval of a settlement that would include a $48.5 million payment and other relief.
July 02, 2025
Some Forfeiture, Tobacco Surcharge Claims Survive Dismissal In ERISA Suit

URBANA, Ill. — Ruling on a dismissal motion in a putative class action involving two recent hot topics in Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation, an Illinois federal judge concluded that key claims regarding the use of forfeited nonvested retirement plan contributions survive but only one claim regarding a health plan’s so-called tobacco surcharge does.
July 01, 2025
Connecticut Federal Judge Upholds LTD Termination Under ‘Any Occupation’ Standard

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Closing a lawsuit filed by a shop fabricator with rheumatoid arthritis and granting judgment in favor of a long-term disability (LTD) insurer, a Connecticut federal judge said that “although this may be a case where a contrary determination would also be supported by substantial evidence,” overall “there was substantial evidence to support [the insurer’s] determination that Plaintiff was not disabled under the ‘Any Occupation’ definition.”
July 01, 2025
Judge Rules For Claimant In LTD Row Involving Own-Occupation Duties

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Ruling on de novo review for a long-term disability (LTD) claimant who has neck and back pain, a Tennessee federal judge ordered retroactive reinstatement of her benefits in the case, resolving issues including what the duties of her regular occupation as a hospital chief clinical officer (CCO) are.
June 30, 2025
Through Criticism, Defendants Win ERISA Proprietary Funds Row After Bench Trial

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge who conducted a 10-day bench trial found in favor of defendants in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit challenging the selection and retention of proprietary funds, saying in part that the class “cannot tie any specific decision to the Committee’s process failures, with one exception” — and failed to show that the exception caused any loss.
June 30, 2025
High Court Seeks Input On ERISA Ruling Concerning Meaningful Benchmarks

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court in a June 30 orders list invited the U.S. solicitor general to provide the federal government’s perspective on a petition to review a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 2-1 revival of a putative class action over a passively managed Northern Trust Focus Funds suite of target date funds (TDFs); the decision concerns the role benchmarks play in pleading Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims.
June 30, 2025
U.S. High Court Agrees To Tackle Withdrawal Liability Timing Assumptions Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an order list, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 granted a petition for review of a Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) withdrawal liability decision that the federal government filed an amicus curiae brief urging it to grant — but did not reformulate the question presented as the government suggested.
June 30, 2025
U.S. High Court Won’t Review Ruling That ERISA Partly Preempts Oklahoma PBM Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the federal government urged in a requested amicus curiae brief, the U.S. Supreme Court in a June 30 order list declined to review a ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Medicare Part D partially preempt an Oklahoma pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM) law.
June 27, 2025
Split U.S. High Court: Universal Injunctions ‘Likely Exceed’ Courts’ Authority

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nationwide or universal injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts,” a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 27, partially staying nationwide injunctions issued in three cases challenging President Donald J. Trump’s Jan. 20 birthright citizenship executive order (EO),
June 25, 2025
In ‘Close Call’ Case, Judge Rules For LTD Claimant In Any-Occupation Dispute

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In a decision he described as “a very close call,” a California federal judge ruled on de novo review that a claimant was disabled from any occupation under the terms of a long-term disability (LTD) plan; among other things, the judge resolved opposed requests for judicial notice and explained his findings that the opinions of several doctors should be given little to no weight but the claimant’s “reports of pain are entitled to some weight.”
June 25, 2025
Judge Issues Final Approval Order For $69M Settlement Of Target Date Funds Case

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge on June 24 entered final approval and awards orders in a case concluded by a $69 million deal that the class representative called “the largest-ever ERISA settlement alleging breach of fiduciary duty for failure to remove underperforming investment options.”
June 24, 2025
Declaration Is Struck, For Now, In Case Challenging Pension Risk Transfers

NEW YORK — Largely granting an unopposed motion, a New York federal judge struck a declaration that retirees who filed a putative class action challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) to Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA) and RGA Reinsurance Co. (RGA) attached to and referenced in their amended complaint but denied a request to order alterations to the operative complaint.
June 24, 2025
Arkansas Moves To Consolidate Cases Over Law Banning PBMs From Owning Pharmacies

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas moved to consolidate four cases that challenge the constitutionality of a recently signed law that bans pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) from owning a pharmacy business in the state, contending that the cases share common questions of law and name the same defendants.
June 24, 2025
In Mixed Ruling, 9th Circuit Approves Denial Of Coverage For Wilderness Program

SAN FRANCISCO — In an unpublished June 23 memorandum disposition issuing a mixed ruling in a mental health and substance use coverage dispute, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said that coverage for a wilderness program was properly denied; that coverage for residential treatment was not properly denied but the correct remedy is reprocessing because factual disputes remain; and that an award of nearly $50,000 for attorney fees and costs can’t stand because it was based on determinations that the appellate court reversed.