PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Best Practices for Reducing ERISA Litigation Risk
ERISA Claims: How Can Benefits Be An Employer’s Burden?
A federal district court recently granted a motion to dismiss claims that defined contribution plan fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence, and violated ERISA’s anti-inurement and prohibited...more
Fourth Circuit Holds That Class Action Waiver Issue Must Be Decided Before Certification and Questions Narrow Issue Classes - In In re Marriott International, Inc., 78 F.4th 677 (4th Cir. 2023), a panel of the U.S. Court...more
The Eastern District of Kentucky recently became the latest court to weigh in on arbitration and class action waiver provisions in ERISA-governed defined contribution plans. In Merrow v. Horizon Bank, the court found such a...more
Whether you think of it as the City of Brotherly Love or the Cradle of Liberty, there can be no question that Philadelphia is the perfect venue for the nation’s premier Life, Health, Disability & ERISA (LHD&E) conference....more
We have previously blogged on the flurry of class action lawsuits challenging 401(k) plan investments in the BlackRock LifePath Index Target Date Funds. District courts around the country—seven of them in total—have granted...more
In Wit v. United Behavioral Health, the Ninth Circuit recently rejected a lower court’s order certifying a class of participants in a dispute over behavioral health guidelines used to process claims for benefits. A California...more
A federal court in Wisconsin recently allowed a putative ERISA class action in Lucero v. Credit Union Ret. Plan Ass’n to proceed to discovery on the claim that a 401(k) plan paid excessive recordkeeping fees. This decision...more
On December 1, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated and remanded a district court’s decision to certify a class of more than 200,000 retirees alleging that collateralized loans serviced by the...more
On December 1, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a district court’s certification of a nationwide class of 8,000+ retirement plans serving hundreds of thousands of participants in an ERISA action...more
In a pair of report and recommendations issued the same day, a Magistrate Judge in Wisconsin recently recommended that the district court (i) grant motions for reconsideration of prior denials of motions to dismiss claims...more
In Matousek v. MidAmerican Energy Co., 2022 WL 6880771, __ F.4th __ (8th Cir. 2022), the Eighth Circuit joined the Sixth and Seventh Circuits in affirming dismissal of ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims alleging that the...more
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
The Ninth Circuit just reversed decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Wit v. United Behavioral Health, which had ordered United Behavioral Health (“UBH”) to reprocess thousands of...more
The Supreme Court recently issued a unanimous decision reinstating an ERISA class action against fiduciaries of Northwestern University's 403(b) retirement plans. In Hughes v. Northwestern University, the petitioners alleged...more
As costly class action retirement plan litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) proliferates, mandatory individual arbitration has become an increasingly appealing alternative for certain benefit...more
On January 20, 2022, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida enforced a mandatory arbitration and class action-waiver provision (Arbitration Provision) in an ERISA-governed defined contribution...more
Employers should develop and implement the most compliant and risk adverse benefits plans, but the plaintiff’s bar will still search for loopholes. Investment fees and loss, COBRA litigation and healthcare claims are only a...more
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
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Thursday, February 4, affirmed the dismissal of an ERISA class-action lawsuit filed against General Electric Company and its former CEO. The complaint had alleged the...more
Join us virtually to ensure that you are equipped with the latest updates and strategies to prevent, manage and defend against rising, costly ERISA disputes. There has never been a more critical time to “compare notes”...more
While every large 401(k) plan is a target for a class-action lawsuit over costs, I believe the years of litigation and fee disclosure regulations will exhaust the number of class-action lawsuits, as well as courts taking a...more