A federal district court in Illinois recently dismissed “excessive fee” and “imprudent investment” claims against the plan fiduciaries of the CareerBuilder 401(k) plan fiduciaries, relying largely on the Seventh Circuit’s...more
7/10/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Retirement Plan ,
Self-Dealing
On June 23, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a proposed rule (which was published in the Federal Register on June 30, 2020) that would amend its “investment duties” regulation set forth at 29 C.F.R. §...more
The Fifth Circuit in Schweitzer v. Inv. Comm. of Phillips 66 Sav. Plan dismissed claims against 401(k) plan fiduciaries related to allowing plan participants to hold a single stock that was not an employer security as a plan...more
Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a decision by the Eighth Circuit holding that ERISA plan participants lack Article III standing to sue for breach of fiduciary duty to recover investment losses in a defined...more
6/2/2020
/ 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
The Tenth Circuit recently concluded that, as a matter of federal common law, a choice-of-law provision in a long-term disability insurance policy, which was part of the plaintiff’s employer’s ERISA plan, must be enforced...more
Editor’s Overview -
Of course, on the top of everyone’s minds these days is COVID-19. In this edition of Proskauer’s ERISA Newsletter, our colleagues discuss some of the legislation and guidance that has been issued over...more
Since the beginning of 2016, the ERISA plaintiffs’ bar has filed nearly two dozen complaints targeting university-sponsored 403(b) plans. The majority of these lawsuits assert that plan fiduciaries breached their duties and...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is charged with ensuring that plans comply with ERISA, including the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). EBSA recently released its MHPAEA report for...more
As recent history has shown, ERISA claims seeking recovery of investment losses tend to proliferate during times of market volatility. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents a unique opportunity for plaintiffs to...more
Editor's Overview -
Happy New Year. We wrap-up 2019 with an article that reflects on significant developments in ERISA litigation during 2019, and takes a look at what's on the horizon for 2020. The courts (at all levels)...more
1/17/2020
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
American Arbitration Association ,
Arbitration ,
Article III ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Practices ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Individual Mandate ,
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma ,
IRS ,
Loss Causation ,
Multiemployer Plan ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Thole v U.S. Bank ,
Venue
We conclude our blog series on best practices in administering benefit claims with the three C’s: be clear, be consistent, and communicate. The key to effective benefit claim administration ultimately boils down to drafting...more
As we shifted focus last week from a plan’s administrative claims procedures to defending against a claim for benefits in court, we explained how a well-documented administrative record can enhance the chances of getting a...more
12/19/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Contract ,
Claim Procedures ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Forum Selection ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Plan Description ,
Venue
Up to now, our blog series has focused on best practices for implementing a plan’s claims and appeals procedure. We shift gears this week to see how following these best practices pays dividends if a participant’s (or...more
When a plan administrator is attending to a benefit claim and thinks it is time to call in an attorney, are those discussions privileged and protected from disclosure to claimants? In this week’s blog, we take a look at some...more
It’s Week #6, and we have turned the corner in our Top 10 Best Practices in Administering Benefit Claims. In case you missed any (or all) of the first five best practices, links to each of them appear below. This week we...more
This week we discuss the importance of establishing good claims procedures and the benefits of following those procedures.
A plan’s claims procedures should be spelled out clearly in both the plan document and the summary...more
11/8/2019
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Practices ,
Claim Procedures ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Discovery ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Summary Plan Description
This week in our blog series on best practices in administering benefit claims, we discuss the importance of knowing and, importantly, understanding the laws governing benefit claim administration.
Section 503 of ERISA...more
Our blog series on best practices in administering benefit claims has thus far stressed the importance of knowing and reading the plan document and summary plan description. This week, we take a look at a plan term that has...more
Last week, we kicked off our blog series on the fundamentals of benefit claim administration with an explanation of how important it is to know and read your plan document. The plan document is the legally binding contract...more
In this edition of our Newsletter, we take a look at a pair of cases that, while unrelated, together remind us of the importance of having clear plan rules in place that reflect the plan sponsor’s intention. The first article...more
10/11/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Withdrawal Liability
Our ERISA Practice Center blog posts often discuss many complex, and sometimes esoteric, substantive and procedural ERISA issues, as well as related agency guidance and case law. In this new ten-part blog series, however, we...more
ERISA health care plans typically include reimbursement and subrogation clauses, which give plans a right to reimbursement of medical expenses paid on behalf of a beneficiary where the injury is caused by a third party. While...more
10/2/2019
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Insurance Risk Pool ,
Jurisdiction ,
Medical Expenses ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Preemption ,
Savings Clause ,
State Law Claims ,
Subrogation
Proskauer serves as outside counsel to a coalition of nine nonprofit organizations—led by Justice in Aging—supporting dozens of states and organizations in their efforts to stay the implementation of the U.S. Department of...more
9/20/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Amicus Briefs ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Elder Issues ,
Equal Protection ,
Final Rules ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Nonprofits ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Pro Bono ,
Public Benefits ,
Rehabilitation Act
Editor's Overview -
As the summer heats up, so too has the U.S. Supreme Court's docket for next term where it has already agreed to hear three ERISA cases and more may be in the works. On the docket already are ERISA...more
7/16/2019
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Assignment Clauses ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Certiorari ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Final Rules ,
HRA ,
IBM ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Stock Drop Litigation
In 2016, Proskauer, together with the Advocacy Center of Louisiana and the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, filed a pro bono litigation in Louisiana federal court with the goal of securing...more