Synopsis: A recent 4th Circuit decision reiterates the importance of aligning a plan fiduciary’s administrative claim and appeal review process with the standards for a “full and fair review” under U.S. Department of Labor...more
Synopsis: HIPAA provides no federal cause of action, but alleged HIPAA violations may be remedied in state court under state negligence law....more
9/25/2019
/ Data Breach ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Negligence ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Pharmacies ,
PHI ,
Preemption ,
Statutory Violations
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that once a multi-employer pension fund accelerates withdrawal liability periodic payments into a lump sum liability, there is no statutory...more
Synopsis: A recent decision of the federal district court for the Southern District of New York warns ERISA fiduciaries that even innocent mistakes that do not misuse plan assets or unjustly enrich the fiduciaries can cause...more
8/5/2019
/ Breach of Duty ,
Clerical Errors ,
Damages ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equitable Surcharge ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Plan Administrators ,
Plan Documents ,
Summary Plan Description
The hyper-partisan political warfare in the American health care industry is far from over. But another small battle in a federal district court was just resolved in favor of the Trump Administration....more
Seyfarth synopsis: Arkansas has sought certiorari on the question of the ability of states under the ERISA preemption clause to regulate the rates charged by PBMs, and the Supreme Court has asked for the input of the...more
Synopsis: ERISA stock-drop litigation has diminished in recent years due to the Supreme Court’s Dudenhoeffer decision (and a rising stock market). Now, the Court will have another chance to weigh in on whether federal ERISA...more
6/26/2019
/ Discovery ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
IBM ,
Inflated Stock Purchase Price ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Pleading Standards ,
SCOTUS ,
Stock Drop Litigation
Synopsis: A new Third Circuit decision has allowed an ERISA fee complaint to stand even though there were no specific allegations of fiduciary errors in the process of selecting investment options and fees. ...more
6/6/2019
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Breach of Duty ,
Circumstantial Evidence ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Discovery ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Putative Class Actions
Seyfarth Synopsis: There is a deep circuit split on who bears the burden of proving loss causation on ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims. ...more
Synopsis: A recent decision by the District Court from the Southern District of New York shows why it often makes sense to consider, on a privileged basis, the universe of potential defendants to a withdrawal liability...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 20, 2019, in Frank, et al. v. Gaos, No. 17-961, 2019 WL 1264582 (U.S. Mar. 20, 2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Article III standing preconditions to federal court litigation, as...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 6, 2018, the United States Supreme Court signalled that the Article III standing preconditions to federal court litigation, as described in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S .Ct. 1540 (2016), are...more
2/6/2019
/ Article III ,
Class Action ,
Cy Pres Funds ,
Damages ,
Data Collection ,
Google ,
Search Engines ,
Search Terms ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Stored Communications Act
Seyfarth Synopsis: The EEOC has withdrawn the incentive provisions in its ADA and GINA wellness program regulations. The remaining provisions have less bite as a consequence, especially in the ADA context. But HIPAA wellness...more
1/30/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Incentive Plans ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Final Rules ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Vacated ,
Wellness Programs
Synopsis: Many parties to ERISA litigation and arbitration pay lip service to the burden of proof, put on their respective cases and leave it to the trier of fact to decide which side deserves the victory. ...more
On December 14, 2018, District Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the Affordable Care Act or ACA (a/k/a “ObamaCare”) is unconstitutional and therefore...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit declined to enforce an agreement to arbitrate ERISA Section 502(a)(2) claims, but did not rule out enforcement in other ERISA claim contexts....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The trend-lines describe employment-related litigation in the past 25 years: (1) the emergence of arbitration as a flexible and increasingly legally viable to resolve employment claims...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Seventh Circuit has now applied a clear error standard of review to a withdrawal liability arbitrator’s interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement, thus enhancing the role of the arbitrator in...more
1/16/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employment Litigation ,
Pension Funds ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standard of Review ,
Unions ,
Withdrawal Liability
Seyfarth Synopsis: A district court in New York has held that a plaintiff cannot assert claims against a plan in which she did not participate and cannot assert claims of fiduciary breach without plausible allegations of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court appears to have barred equitable tolling under ERISA Section 413’s six-year statute of repose for fiduciary breach claims, subject only to well-pled allegations and proof of fraud or...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court has held unanimously that a 1980 amendment to ERISA means that a pension benefit plan need not be established by a church in order to be exempt from ERISA rules, including most...more
6/6/2017
/ Advocate Health Care v Stapleton ,
Church Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
IRS ,
PBGC ,
Pensions ,
Religious Institutions ,
SCOTUS
Seyfarth Synopsis: The 2016 elections had the effect of hardening the Red-Blue divide in the country. A number of Blue cities in Red States are enacting ordinances that implement the progressive political agenda, which of...more
The Seventh Circuit has stymied an EEOC attempt to declare that employer wellness plans violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The court decided that the issues raised by the suit are moot, and deferred to...more
Synopsis: Supreme Court has agreed to decide the fate of class waiver provisions in mandatory arbitration agreements, which may spark a new trend in ERISA benefits litigation.
On January 13, 2017, the United States...more
1/25/2017
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Class Certification ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
SCOTUS
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in three Church Plan cases presents the possibility that many Church Plans thought for years to be exempt from ERISA rules, including its funding rules, will now have...more
12/15/2016
/ Actual Injuries ,
Advocate Health Care v Stapleton ,
Article III ,
Certiorari ,
Church Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Future Harm ,
IRS ,
Kaplan v St. Peters Healthcare System ,
PBGC ,
Pensions ,
Religious Institutions ,
Rollins v Dignity Health ,
SCOTUS ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing