On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that dealt a blow to benefit plan fiduciaries nationwide. The Court unanimously held in Cunningham v. Cornell University that a plaintiff asserting that a plan and...more
4/25/2025
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cunningham v Cornell University ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pleadings ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement
In its most recent step to combat cybersecurity risks to employee benefit plans, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) clarified on September 6, 2024, that its guidance on cybersecurity applies to health and welfare plans as...more
11/13/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Personal Data ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Risk Management
On Monday, January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in a case of critical interest to employers offering 401(k) or other defined-contribution retirement plans. In Hughes v. Northwestern University, Case No....more
1/26/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Breach of Duty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Plan Participants ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tibble v Edison Int ,
Vacated
Over the years, attempts to arbitrate breach of fiduciary duty claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Section 502(a)(2) have had varying results. One court recently recognized that “whether any...more
The Second Circuit recently considered for the first time whether the equitable remedy of reformation was available under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) where a court determined that the written terms of...more
1/31/2020
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
CIGNA v Amara ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Contract Terms ,
Discovery ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equitable Reformation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
PricewaterhouseCoopers ,
Remand ,
Retirement Plan ,
Statutory Violations
On August 20, 2019, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., overturning its 1984 position in Amaro v. Continental Can Co. that lawsuits filed...more
8/26/2019
/ 401k ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Breach of Duty ,
Carve Out Provisions ,
Charles Schwab ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan
In the past two years, more than 16 prominent colleges and universities across the country have been targeted by class action lawsuits filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) challenging the fees and...more
8/13/2018
/ 401k ,
Colleges ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
Universities
On January 6, 2016, the Commissioner of Health of the State of New York certified that the medical marijuana program established by New York’s Compassionate Care Act could be implemented in accordance with public health and...more