In July, the Third Circuit upheld a District of New Jersey decision to throw out a withdrawal liability assessment, finding the multiemployer pension fund was barred from pursuing its claim because the fund unreasonably...more
On March 29, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued its decision in Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Event Media, Inc. In a matter of first impression for...more
In November 2023, soon after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed amendments to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act (the “Act”), several staffing agencies and associations sued for an injunction against...more
3/18/2024
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Day Laborers ,
Due Process ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Injunctions ,
NLRA ,
Preemption ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Constitutions ,
State Labor Laws ,
Temporary Employees ,
Wage and Hour
On February 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in Trustees of IAM Nat'l Pension Fund v. M & K Emp. Sols., LLC, No. 22-7157 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 9, 2024), affirming the district court’s...more
In a case of first impression for the court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently ruled that an insurer owes a fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to all...more
On October 14, 2022, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that insures and regulates private-sector defined benefit pension plans under Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of...more
10/17/2022
/ Comment Period ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
PBGC ,
Pension Reform ,
Pensions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan ,
Withdrawal Liability
On Friday, July 8, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan v. Energy West Mining Company, joining the Sixth Circuit in holding that the...more
On July 7, 2022, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the independent federal corporation that insures private-sector defined benefit plans under Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974...more
On May 12, 2022, the “Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act” was introduced in the House of Representatives by Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA). Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced a companion bill in the Senate. The bill seeks...more
On January 27, 2022, in New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund v. C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., the Second Circuit joined the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in applying the doctrine of successor...more
2/8/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Asset Purchaser ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Successor Liability ,
Teamsters ,
Unions ,
Withdrawal Liability
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
On July 9, 2021, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation issued its interim final rule implementing the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program passed in March 2021 as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act of...more
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Laurent v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which held that retirees could receive money damages in the form of recalculated benefits in a class action...more
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which includes the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021....more
Without congressional intervention, about 100 multiemployer pension plans are expected to become insolvent in the next 20 years, and some much sooner. In other words, for these pension plans, their liabilities to retired...more
House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) recently introduced legislation that seeks to rescue multiemployer pension plans (MEPs) facing insolvency. Entitled the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act (EPPRA), the bill...more
On January 8, 2021, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued its final rule modifying the calculation of withdrawal liability by multiemployer pension plans....more
The City of Philadelphia launched the COVID-19 Small Business Relief Fund to assist businesses that are struggling as a result of city- and state-wide mandated business closures....more
In Bauwnes v. Revcon Technology Group, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the trustees of a multiemployer pension plan could not agree to an employer’s installment payment plan of its withdrawal...more
On August 7, 2019, in Kelly v. Honeywell International, the Second Circuit handed down the latest decision in a series of cases across the country on a company’s obligation to provide lifetime health care to retirees....more
8/13/2019
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Health Insurance ,
Honeywell International ,
Lifetime Health Benefits ,
Retirement Plan ,
Vested Benefits
On March 19, 2019, Facebook settled several lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Communications Workers of America, and various housing groups related to the placement of employment...more
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) recently proposed amendments to the regulations that govern how multiemployer plans calculate withdrawal liability. The PBGC has invited comment on these proposed regulations...more
With its en banc decision in Ariana v. Humana Health Plan of Texas, the Fifth Circuit reconsidered the standard of review in an ERISA denial of benefits case.
...more
The district court's opinion denying cross-motions for summary judgment in Bobbitt v. Broadband Interactive, Inc., No. 8:11-cv-2855 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 21, 2013) illustrates how not to structure an independent contractor...more