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Benefits
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June 14, 2024
Former IT Worker Wants Outright Win In FMLA Suit
A former information technology worker asked a Florida federal court Friday to reconsider a win it denied him in his lawsuit alleging he was fired after he took medical leave to treat anxiety, arguing the court should have found his company acted illegally.
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June 14, 2024
Pfizer Worker's Ex-Wife Can't Raid 401(k) To Collect Damages
The ex-wife of a former Pfizer employee can't use her ex-husband's 401(k) account to collect damages awarded in a defamation suit against him, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, saying federal benefits law prevents her from seizing his retirement contributions.
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June 14, 2024
4 Big ERISA Decisions From The 1st Half Of 2024
A California federal court allowed a novel type of 401(k) mismanagement suit to advance to discovery, the Ninth Circuit elaborated on the pleading standard for mental health parity claims, and workers beat back an attempt to force their federal benefits suit into arbitration at the Second Circuit. Here, attorneys discuss four consequential ERISA decisions in 2024's first half.
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June 13, 2024
Prudential Investors Get Final OK On $35M Settlement
A New Jersey federal judge on Thursday granted final approval to a $35 million class action settlement between Prudential Financial Inc. and shareholders who alleged the company hid the risks associated with the purchase of thousands of life insurance policies.
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June 13, 2024
New Evidence Triggers Amended Misclassification Complaint
Growers accusing a chicken farm of misclassifying them as independent contractors can amend their suit, a South Carolina federal judge ruled Thursday, agreeing that new evidence they obtained could expand the suit's reach.
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June 13, 2024
Tesla Shareholders Approve Musk's Compensation Package
Tesla's shareholders voted to approve a multibillion-dollar compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk, the company's top lawyer announced Thursday during a meeting in which investors also approved moving the company's incorporation from Delaware to Texas.
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June 13, 2024
Retirement Sponsor Strikes Deal To End 401(k) Fee Suit
A professional employer organization that offered a $1.5 billion 401(k) plan to credit unions reached a deal to end former plan participants' proposed class action accusing it of saddling them with lofty fees, a Thursday filing in Wisconsin federal court said.
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June 13, 2024
Perdue Wants Copycat Wage Suit Tossed or Transferred
Perdue Foods asked a Maryland federal judge Thursday to throw out or transfer to Georgia a chicken grower's suit alleging independent contractor misclassification, saying the claims are identical to another suit in that state the named plaintiff was involved with.
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June 13, 2024
Media Co. Strikes Deal In Suit Alleging Pricey 401(k) Funds
A media company has agreed to settle a class action alleging it failed to trim costly investment funds from its workers' $540 million 401(k) retirement plan serving 12,000 members, costing them millions in savings, according to a filing in New York federal court.
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June 12, 2024
Ex-Rehab Biz Manager Gets Prison For Theft From Resident
The former business manager of a Connecticut rehabilitation center will serve at least nine months in prison for stealing money from an elderly resident's bank account, state prosecutors said.
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June 12, 2024
Wells Fargo Accused Of Mismanaging Forfeited 401(k) Funds
A former Wells Fargo employee hit the San Francisco-based bank with a proposed class action in California federal court Tuesday, alleging Wells Fargo and its fiduciaries violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by using forfeited retirement funds to reduce its own contributions to other workers' 401(k)s.
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June 12, 2024
CalPERS Opposes $5B Atty Fee In Musk Pay Fight
The nation's largest public pension fund lined up Wednesday against a proposed $5 billion-plus fee for stockholder attorneys whose Delaware Court of Chancery suit blocked Tesla CEO Elon Musk's one-time $56 billion compensation plan, one day ahead of a Tesla shareholder vote to resurrect the pay deal.
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June 12, 2024
Lipitor Buyers Get Final OK For $93M Deal In Antitrust Fight
A New Jersey federal judge gave final approval Wednesday to a $93 million settlement between a class of buyers of Lipitor and Pfizer, resolving their claims in sprawling antitrust litigation that Pfizer conspired with a drug manufacturer to delay the release of a cheaper generic version of Lipitor and monopolize the market.
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June 12, 2024
Worker Hits Lumber Co. With 401(k) Fee, Investment Suit
A lumber company violated federal benefits law by choosing expensive, poor-performing funds for its employee retirement plan and saddling participants with lofty fees, according to a new lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
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June 12, 2024
Okta, Investors Reach $60M Deal In Cyberattack Coverup Suit
Okta Inc. investors have asked a California federal judge to give the first OK to a $60 million settlement reached in a suit alleging the software company misled the certified class about a 2022 cyberattack.
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June 12, 2024
32 AGs Urge Justices Take Up Okla. PBM Law Fight
Thirty-two attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma's petition for review of a Tenth Circuit decision holding that federal law preempted portions of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing the justices needed to intervene to resolve a circuit split.
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June 12, 2024
Sen. Dems Seek Criminal Penalties For PE Hospital 'Looters'
A pair of Democratic senators are targeting private equity's role in the healthcare industry, introducing new legislation Tuesday that would give federal and state enforcers new tools to go after firms they say are "looting" hospital systems and other providers, including possibly jailing executives if patient deaths result.
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June 12, 2024
Nelson Mullins Partner's Widow Must Arbitrate Pay Dispute
The estate of a Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP partner who died last year is bound by a partnership agreement that requires disputes to be resolved through arbitration, a Massachusetts judge said in dismissing a suit brought by the attorney's widow.
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June 12, 2024
Marketing Co. Can't Sink ADA Suit Over Wellness Program
An Illinois federal judge refused to toss a proposed class action brought by marketing firm workers who allege a medical exam for the company's wellness plan violated disability bias law, saying their argument that the test wasn't genuinely voluntary was strong enough to stay in court.
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June 12, 2024
Shareholders To Settle Discovery-AT&T Merger Suit In Del.
Former shareholders of Discovery Inc. who sued in Delaware's Court of Chancery over the media entertainment company's $43 billion merger with AT&T in 2022 have agreed to settle their class action and intend to finalize settlement documentation by July 5, the parties told the court late on Tuesday.
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June 11, 2024
Texas, Mont. Sue HHS Over ACA Trans Discrimination Rule
Texas and Montana filed suit against the Biden administration seeking to halt its rule clarifying the application of the Affordable Care Act's nondiscrimination protections to gender identity, saying the new regulations infringe on states' autonomy and force them to violate their own laws.
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June 11, 2024
Mattel Wants Out Of Suit Over Forfeited 401(k) Funds
Mattel urged a California federal court to throw out a lawsuit a former employee launched alleging the company should have used former workers' forfeited 401(k) funds to cover plan expenses, saying its decision to use that money to satisfy its own contributions is in line with federal benefits law.
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June 11, 2024
Justices Urged To Review Fee Denial In DOL Stock Plan Case
A construction design firm is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its fight for attorney fees after beating an enforcement case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the company and its founders mismanaged an employee stock ownership plan, with the firm arguing the Ninth Circuit erred in siding with the DOL.
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June 11, 2024
Research Org, Ex-Workers Agree To End Retirement Fee Fight
A research and development nonprofit agreed to settle a class action alleging it mismanaged its $3.5 billion employee retirement plans by allowing them to pay excessive administrative fees, according to a filing Tuesday in Massachusetts federal court.
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June 10, 2024
Rehab Clinics Add To MultiPlan Insurance Fixing Pile-On
Addiction treatment providers sued MultiPlan, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealth and Elevance Friday and Saturday in 14 separate New York federal court complaints that appear to be the first to add substance abuse disorder-specific allegations to the cases pegging MultiPlan at the center of a scheme to suppress insurer payouts.
Expert Analysis
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Secure 2.0 Takeaways From DOL's 2024 Budget Proposal
The U.S. Department of Labor’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal provides insight into the most pressing Secure 2.0 implementation issues, including establishment of a search database for finding lost retirement savings and developing guidance on the execution of newly authorized emergency savings accounts, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
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How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks
Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.
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Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip
After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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Managing Public Pension Plans During An Election Cycle
With the 2024 elections fast approaching, investment advisers managing public pension plan assets must consider political contributions by their personnel in order to ensure compliance with the pay-to-play rule and other statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements, say attorneys at Dechert.
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A Look At 2023's Major NLRB Developments Thus Far
Over the last six months, the National Labor Relations Board has broadened its interpretation and enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, including increasing penalties and efforts to prohibit restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, say Eve Klein and Elizabeth Mincer at Duane Morris.
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Chancery Reaffirms Very High Bar For Board Liability On Deal
The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in a Block shareholder's suit over the purchase of Tidal serves as a reminder that an independent and disinterested board will not have liability unless it did not act in good faith — even when the court strongly criticizes flawed processes and the business decision, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Indemnification In Exec Separation Deals: Read The Fine Print
The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision denying the former CEO of space infrastructure company Momentus the advancement of legal fees highlights the importance of considering post-employment indemnification and advancement rights in executive separation agreements, says Daniel Morgan at Blank Rome.
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Benefits And Beyond: Fixing Employee Contribution Failures
Employers must address employee contribution failures promptly in order to avoid losing significant tax benefits of 401(k) or 403(b) plans, but the exact correction procedures vary depending on whether contributions were less than or greater than intended, say attorneys at Seyfarth Shaw.
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FMLA Confusion Persists Despite New DOL Advisory
A recent U.S. Department of Labor advisory opinion provides some clarity regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act's handling of holiday weeks, but the FMLA remains a legal minefield that demands fact-specific analysis of each employee's unique situation, says Nicholas Schneider at Eckert Seamans.
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5 Management Tips To Keep Law Firm Merger Talks Moving
Many law firm mergers that make solid business sense still fall apart due to the costs and frustrations of inefficient negotiations, but firm managers can increase the chance of success by effectively planning and executing merger discussions, say Lisa Smith and Kristin Stark at Fairfax Associates.
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What 3rd Circ. Niaspan Decision Means For Class Cert.
The Third Circuit's recent denial of class certification in the Niaspan antitrust case underscores its particularly stringent understanding of the implicit ascertainability requirement, which further fuels confusion in the courts, threatens uneven results and increases the risk of forum shopping, says Michael Lazaroff at Rimon Law.
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3 Abortion Enforcement Takeaways 1 Year After Dobbs
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, confusion continues to abound amid the quagmire of state-level enforcement risks, federal efforts to protect reproductive health care, and fights over geolocation data, say Elena Quattrone and Sarah Hall at Epstein Becker.
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Rethinking In-Office Attendance For Associate Retention
The hybrid office attendance model doesn't work for all employees, but it does for many — and balancing these two groups is important for associate retention and maintaining a BigLaw firm culture that supports all attorneys, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.
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Weighing The Risks Of AI For Employee Benefits Admin
Although artificial intelligence has the potential to transform employers' administration of benefits, with these opportunities come great risks related to Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary duties and preemption considerations, making the evolving state law landscape even more critical, say attorneys at Michael Best.
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Murdaugh Trials Offer Law Firms Fraud Prevention Reminders
As the fraud case against Alex Murdaugh continues to play out, the evidence and narrative presented at his murder trial earlier this year may provide lessons for law firms on implementing robust internal controls that can detect and prevent similar kinds of fraud, say Travis Casner and Helga Zauner at Weaver and Tidwell.