There has been a recent rise in Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) litigation against third-party administrators (TPAs) and other service providers challenging their management of self-funded health...more
6/2/2025
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Disputes ,
Damages ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Insurance ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Self-Funded Health Plans
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17, 2025, issued a greatly anticipated decision in which the justices unanimously held that plaintiffs alleging a prohibited transaction under Section 1106(a)(1)(C) of the Employee Retirement...more
4/23/2025
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Cost-Shifting ,
Cunningham v Cornell University ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pleading Standards ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rule 11 ,
Sanctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Jan. 16, 2025, released its long-awaited proposed regulation interpreting the definition of "adequate consideration" as applied to private company stock acquired or sold by an employee...more
In Hutchins v. HP Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed – with prejudice – the plaintiff's claims challenging the use of forfeited employer 401(k) contributions. This is the latest...more
2/13/2025
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Compliance ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forfeiture ,
Retirement Plan
There has been a recent uptick in ERISA class actions challenging the use of 401(k) plan forfeitures. Forfeitures are employer contributions that participants forfeit when they leave employment before those contributions vest...more
1/24/2025
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Contributions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forfeiture ,
Plan Administrators ,
Retirement Plan ,
Risk Management ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vesting
Chavez v. Plan Benefit Services, Inc., 108 F.4th 297 (5th Cir. 2024), began when three employees of a single employer sued the service providers of their health and welfare benefit plan for allegedly charging excessive fees...more
10/31/2024
/ Article III ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Standing
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued its written decision in Shipp v. Central States Manufacturing, Inc. on July 5, 2024, declining to dismiss the case against Central States Manufacturing Inc....more
Multi-employer plan participants involved in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) class action lawsuit against Horizon Actuarial Services LLC (Horizon), a national retirement services firm, have entered...more
4/2/2024
/ Best Practices ,
Class Action ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Multi-Employer Pensions ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Plan Participants ,
Popular ,
Security and Privacy Controls ,
Security Risk Assessments ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Settlement
Historically, courts around the country have approached the enforceability of class action waivers and arbitration provisions in ESOP and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) plan documents differently,...more
9/8/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Plan Documents ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Statutory Remedies
Since late July, at least 10 lawsuits have been filed against large 401(k) plan sponsors that offer certain BlackRock Inc. target-date funds (TDF) among their investment options. In an unexpected pivot away from the 401(k)...more
9/1/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
BlackRock ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Index Funds ,
Mutual Funds ,
Retirement Plan ,
Target Date Funds
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition for certiorari in First Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company v. Giorgio Armani Corporation. Although the headlines typically come when the Supreme Court issues an opinion, its...more
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a stark warning to ERISA fiduciaries about offering cryptocurrencies and related products as potential investment options for plan participants. In Compliance Assistance Release No....more
In Hughes v. Northwestern University, current and former participants in Northwestern University's defined-contribution retirement plans filed litigation on behalf of the plans' participants asserting that the University, its...more
2/25/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SCOTUS
Courts have struggled through the years when considering the enforceability of mandatory class action waivers and arbitration provisions contained within Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) plans and other...more
4/1/2021
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
ERISA Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Compel ,
Split of Authority ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has dismissed a putative class action lawsuit brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by a participant of 401(k) plan against the...more
In Thole v. U.S. Bank, N.A., the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit's judgment that defined benefit plan participants lack standing to pursue claims of fiduciary...more
6/9/2020
/ 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