On April 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Ryan S. v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., set a very broad pleading standard to allege a violation of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity...more
In recent months, Wisconsin federal courts have witnessed a dramatic increase in class litigation raising breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). These claims target...more
The Supreme Court of the United States has held many times that the federal courts do not have jurisdiction over a lawsuit unless the plaintiff has standing to sue under the federal Constitution. To have standing, the Court...more
6/5/2020
/ Article III ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mismanagement ,
Pensions ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Thole v U.S. Bank
Late last year, we wrote about Shore v. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, et al., in which former Atrium Health employees filed a putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North...more
10/16/2019
/ 401k ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Exempt Organizations ,
Failure To State A Claim ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(1) ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Nonprofits ,
Pensions ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
In Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., No. 18-15281 (August 20, 2019), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a 401(k) plan participant was required to individually arbitrate his claims regarding the plan’s fees...more
8/30/2019
/ 401k ,
Arbitration ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Compel ,
NLRA ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
In late 2018, in Sulyma v. Intel Corporation Investment Policy Committee, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a plaintiff’s access to documents disclosing an alleged breach of fiduciary duty did not trigger the...more
In Josef K. v. California Physicians’ Service, No. 18-cv-06385-YGR (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, June 3, 2019), Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers concluded that an independent medical review (IMR)...more
In Gaylor v. Mnuchin, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a tax code exemption for religious housing of ministers does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution....more
Employers may soon find themselves reviewing and revising health plan master documents and summary plan descriptions (SPDs) and administrative service agreements with respect to an obscure claims administration practice known...more
In Sulyma v. Intel Corporation Investment Policy Committee, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that having access to documents disclosing an alleged breach of fiduciary duty is not sufficient to trigger the...more
Having settled many of its attacks on pension plans sponsored by several large church-affiliated healthcare organizations, the plaintiff’s bar appears to be shifting focus to pension and welfare benefit plans maintained by a...more
On July 24, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Munro v. University of Southern California, No. 17-55550, that an employer/fiduciary of a 401(k) plan cannot force a fiduciary breach claim under Employee...more
7/31/2018
/ 401k ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Retirement Plan ,
University of Southern California (USC)
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that the revised Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) disability benefit claim regulations will apply to claims filed on and after April 1, 2018. The...more
Just over a year ago, a panel decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Rochow v. Life Insurance Company of North America, 737 F.3d 415 made big news when the court upheld the district court’s award of $3.8 million in...more
Approximately six months ago, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co., 134 S. Ct. 604 (2013), addressed whether an employee benefit plan covered by the Employee...more
The federal district court decision in Rochow v. Life Insurance Company of North America, No. 04-73628 (March 23, 2012) went unnoticed by most ERISA practitioners after it was issued in 2012, even though the court awarded...more