Benefits

  • December 09, 2024

    3rd Circ. Affirms NLRB's COVID-19 Bonus Pay Order

    The Third Circuit upheld on Monday a National Labor Relations Board decision finding a New Jersey nursing home illegally cut or stopped COVID-19 bonuses for unionized workers, supporting the board's assertion that the bonuses were hazard pay that the company was required to negotiate with the union.

  • December 09, 2024

    Kellogg Retirees Say DOL's Brief Backs 6th Circ. Revival

    A proposed class of married Kellogg retirees alleging their pension annuity payouts were lowballed by the cereal company due to outdated mortality assumptions used in conversions is urging the Sixth Circuit to heed a recently filed brief from the U.S. Department of Labor backing workers seeking to revive a similar dispute in the Eleventh Circuit.

  • December 09, 2024

    EV Carmaker Lucid Wants To Shed More Of Inflated Biz Suit

    Electric carmaker Lucid Group has asked a California federal judge to toss most of the latest version of a proposed investor class action alleging its production forecasts were misleading, arguing that parts of the suit that remained intact after a recent dismissal order involved statements taken out of context.

  • December 09, 2024

    UCLA Student Sues Doctors Over Transgender Misdiagnosis

    A UCLA student has sued a group of doctors in Los Angeles state court, alleging she was misdiagnosed with gender dysphoria when she was 12 and rushed into taking puberty blockers and testosterone and having a mastectomy before she realized she wasn't transgender.

  • December 09, 2024

    Bed Bath & Beyond Irons Out 401(k) Fee Suit Deal

    Bed Bath & Beyond has agreed to settle a suit from workers alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, according to a joint filing from the parties entered Monday in New Jersey federal court.

  • December 09, 2024

    Justices Spurn Worker's Challenge To 'Honest Belief' Firing

    The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a Fourth Circuit decision holding that a Baltimore utility's "honest belief" that a worker was misusing medical leave justified the employee's termination, according to high court orders released Monday.

  • December 09, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Massive Class In Fringe Benefits Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a challenge to a 290,000-worker class in a suit alleging excessive health and retirement plan fees, despite an argument from benefits plan managers that the Fifth Circuit used the wrong standard to greenlight the massive suit.

  • December 06, 2024

    Allianz Exec Avoids Prison For $7B Investor Fraud

    A New York federal judge on Friday declined to sentence a former portfolio manager for Allianz SE's U.S. unit to any time in prison for lying to investors about the riskiness of a group of private investment funds that lost over $7 billion when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

  • December 06, 2024

    Cedars-Sinai ERISA Class Cert. Bid Meets Skeptical Judge

    A Los Angeles federal judge appeared wary Friday of certifying a 16,000-person class of current and former Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Inc. workers who subscribe to the hospital's retirement plan, expressing concerns that one of the proposed lead plaintiffs does not appear to understand the case.

  • December 06, 2024

    Boeing Shareholder Attys Intervene In Parallel Chancery Suit

    Attorneys for two Boeing Co. stockholders pursuing derivative claims in Virginia federal court secured approval on Friday to intervene in a later filed case in Delaware's Court of Chancery, citing concerns that a "dilatory" approach by the Delaware camp could jeopardize both suits.

  • December 06, 2024

    Biden Admin Says Abortion Drug Fight Can't Stay In Texas

    The Biden administration and mifepristone-maker Danco Laboratories LLC doubled down Friday on their bids to end the litigation challenging federal approvals for the abortion medication, arguing the three intervening states can't continue to litigate in Texas federal court now that the private plaintiffs have dropped their claims.

  • December 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Judge Notes Inconsistencies In Medicare Rate Policy

    A Fifth Circuit judge called out inconsistencies in a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy, asking the government to explain apparent discrepancies that four Texas anesthesia practices say will cost them $4 million in reduced reimbursements.

  • December 06, 2024

    Two Firms To Rep CVS Investors In Benefit Unit Losses Suit

    Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP will co-lead a proposed class of investors in consolidated litigation alleging CVS Health Corp. hurt investors as it announced its benefit unit's unanticipated losses.

  • December 06, 2024

    Merrill Lynch Can't Beat Stock Loan Class Cert. Bid

    A New York federal judge on Friday overruled objections from Bank of America unit Merrill Lynch to certify a class of investors, with a slightly extended class period, in a suit alleging the financial institution colluded with other major banks to avoid modernizing the stock loan market.

  • December 06, 2024

    UPS Worker Can't Revive USERRA Retaliation Suit At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a UPS worker's suit claiming the delivery company stalled his efforts to get back to work after an injury because he sued the business alleging discrimination against service members, finding on Friday that company policy drove the delay.

  • December 06, 2024

    SAG-AFTRA Plan Left Data Exposed To Breach, Members Say

    The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan lacked adequate security to keep personal information safe from a September data breach, two members alleged in California federal court, saying a proposed class is at risk for a "full gamut of cyber-crimes," including identity theft and phishing scams.

  • December 06, 2024

    Anthem Wants Testing Lab's $3.8M Suit Axed Or Split Up

    Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut has asked a federal court to toss a testing lab's lawsuit seeking $3.8 million for allegedly unpaid bills, arguing that batches large and small of the more than 3,000 unpaid claims were preempted by federal law, filed years too late or barred from being assigned to the lab to collect.

  • December 06, 2024

    Missing Court Order Prompts Redo On Denied United Claim

    A patient whose coverage claim was denied by United Healthcare for a second time, even after a trial court and the Tenth Circuit found the first was unfair, secured a redo from a Utah federal judge who found the second denial was voided by a legal technicality.

  • December 06, 2024

    4 Big Developments In ERISA Cases From 2nd Half Of 2024

    The Sixth Circuit reopened a retirement plan mismanagement suit against Parker-Hannifin Corp. and revived a manufacturing company worker's disability benefits bid, while the nation's highest court declined to review a plan trustee's unsuccessful attempt to force an employee stock sale dispute into arbitration. Here, Law360 looks at four recent decisions in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases that benefits attorneys should know.

  • December 06, 2024

    Freshfields Adds 2 Corporate Laterals In Silicon Valley

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has expanded its offerings in Silicon Valley with the additions of a capital markets attorney from Cooley LLP and an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney from Goodwin Procter LLP.

  • December 05, 2024

    Fla. Labs Say Cigna's Trial 'Confession' Erases $7.3M Verdict

    Three Florida drug testing laboratories have urged a Connecticut federal court to undo a $7.3 million jury verdict for Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. over unjustified billings, arguing a new trial is warranted after the insurer allegedly made a "confession" during opening statements that it wasn't seeking damages for itself.

  • December 05, 2024

    Judge Recommends Axing Some Claims In X Severance Suit

    A Delaware federal judge on Thursday recommended pruning of a 14-count suit filed by six former Twitter employees accusing the company now known as X and Elon Musk of contract breaches and other claims in connection with Musk's takeover of the social media giant in 2022.

  • December 05, 2024

    DOL Says Court Erred In Tossing ESOP Claims Against Exec

    A medical equipment industry executive should continue facing claims that he ripped off workers by selling overpriced stock to his company's employee stock ownership plan, the U.S. Department of Labor told an Idaho federal judge Thursday, asking him to rethink letting the executive escape the allegations.

  • December 05, 2024

    Abbott Accused Of 'Last-Ditch Effort' To Halt Formula Suit

    Investors accusing Abbott Laboratories leaders of concealing known safety issues related to recalled infant formula urged an Illinois federal judge to reject the company's bid to stay the case because it belatedly formed a special litigation committee to investigate the allegations two years into the litigation.

  • December 05, 2024

    Quest Ex-Workers Ask 3rd Circ. To Revive 401(k) Suit

    Ex-workers for Quest Diagnostics Inc. urged the Third Circuit to revive their suit alleging mismanagement of their $5 billion 401(k) retirement plan, arguing a lower court shouldn't have handed Quest an early win on claims the company failed to properly monitor investment offerings.

Expert Analysis

  • Nvidia Case's Potential Impact On Securities Class Actions

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    In Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder, the U.S. Supreme Court could strip lower courts of their long-standing ability and obligation to holistically weigh all relevant facts supporting plaintiffs' allegations of securities fraud, which would have a wide-ranging impact on securities fraud class actions in the U.S., say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Short-Seller Implications Of 10th Circ.'s Overstock Decision

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    The Tenth Circuit's Oct. 15 decision in Overstock Securities Litigation provides clarity on the pleading standard for a market manipulation claim under the Exchange Act, and suggests that short sellers might not be able to rely on the fraud-on-the-market presumption typically invoked by securities plaintiffs, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Employer Lessons From Mass. 'Bonus Not Wages' Ruling

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    In Nunez v. Syncsort, a Massachusetts state appeals court recently held that a terminated employee’s retention bonus did not count as wages under the state’s Wage Act, illustrating the nuanced ways “wages” are defined by state statutes and courts, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Tobacco Surcharge Suits Spotlight Wellness Reg Compliance

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    A mounting wave of tobacco-user surcharge litigation against employee benefit plans highlights compliance challenges associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act wellness regulations, and reminds plan sponsors to ask existential questions about the utility of their wellness programs, say Finn Pressly and Lesley Wolf at Ballard Spahr.

  • What To Know About New Employment Laws In Fla.

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    Florida employers should familiarize themselves with recent state laws, and also federal legislation, on retirement benefits, teen labor and heat exposure, with special attention to prohibitions against minors performing dangerous tasks, as outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, say Katie Molloy and Cayla Page at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • How Project 2025 Could Upend Federal ESG Policies

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    If implemented, Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's policy playbook for a Republican presidential administration, would likely seek to deploy antitrust law to target ESG initiatives, limit pension fund managers' focus to pecuniary factors and spell doom for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate rule, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

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