Benefits

  • August 29, 2024

    Airline Ducks Liquidated Damages In Military Leave Suit

    A class of pilots accusing American Airlines of violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by denying pay for time spent on military leave can't seek liquidated damages, given a lack of evidence that the airline knew it was breaking the law, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • August 29, 2024

    8th Circ. Won't Revive O'Reilly Auto Parts 401(k) Fee Suit

    The Eighth Circuit refused Thursday to reopen a proposed class action claiming O'Reilly Automotive Inc. let its $1.1 billion employee retirement plan be saddled with excessive investment management and record-keeping fees, ruling workers leading the suit hadn't provided meaningful comparisons by which to measure the plan's costs.

  • August 29, 2024

    GAO Suggests IRS Improve Retirement Account Oversight

    The Internal Revenue Service needs to beef up its oversight of conflicts of interest between fiduciaries and individual retirement account investors, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

  • August 29, 2024

    Conn. ER Docs Ask To Drop Harvard Pilgrim Insurance Fight

    A staffing company covering six Connecticut emergency rooms has asked a federal judge to dismiss its lawsuit against Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of Connecticut Inc. after the state's highest court last week ruled in the insurer's favor on three certified questions of law regarding a surprise billing statute.

  • August 29, 2024

    Full 11th Circ. Won't Rehear Ala. Trans Care Ban Challenge

    The Eleventh Circuit said it will not reconsider its ruling allowing Alabama to enact a ban on certain gender-affirming medical care for minors, knocking down a challenge brought by parents and those who received the treatment of the circuit's ruling, which found that the ban doesn't flout constitutional rights.

  • August 29, 2024

    Waters Corp. Strikes Deal To End 401(k) ERISA Action

    Waters Corp. has indicated that it plans to settle a proposed class action brought by a former employee claiming the company's mismanagement of its retirement plan violated its fiduciary duty to plan participants.

  • August 29, 2024

    Healthcare Co.'s $1.5M Pension Fund Deal Gets Initial OK

    A Massachusetts federal judge initially approved a $1.5 million class action deal halting a federal benefits suit against a healthcare company alleging it filled its $500 million pension plan with costly investments and failed to keep administrative fees low.

  • August 29, 2024

    GOP States Ask Justices To Undo Trans Patients' 4th Circ. Win

    A group of two dozen Republican attorneys general told the U.S. Supreme Court it should review a Fourth Circuit decision barring West Virginia and North Carolina from excluding coverage of gender-affirming medical care for transgender people, arguing states need the power to control controversial nascent treatments.

  • August 29, 2024

    Cintas Corp.'s $4M 401(k) Fee Suit Deal Gets Final OK

    An Ohio federal judge granted final approval to a $4 million settlement ending a proposed class action alleging that uniform supplier Cintas Corp. ran afoul of its fiduciary duties under federal benefits law.

  • August 28, 2024

    TikTok Moderation Co. Can't Beat Investor Suit Over Exposés

    A Florida federal judge ruled Wednesday that TikTok content moderation company Teleperformance must face a pension fund's proposed class action alleging that investors were harmed after investigative reports were published claiming that the company was working its staff into the ground and forcing them to watch harmful content with no support.

  • August 28, 2024

    Raymond James Hit With Suit Over 'Cash Sweep' Programs

    Financial services giant Raymond James faces a proposed class action in Florida federal court alleging its so-called cash sweep programs offer interest rates "significantly lower" than those offered by competitors, in violation of federal law.

  • August 28, 2024

    Ex-Exec's $1M Suit Accuses Houston McNair Family Of 'Coup'

    A longtime employee of the Houston McNair family has accused the children of late businessman Bob McNair of staging a "coup" to oust him from the family's companies, denying him more than $1 million in post-termination benefits in the process.

  • August 28, 2024

    Lipitor Buyers Seek Final OK For $35M Deal In Antitrust Fight

    End-payor plaintiffs asked a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday to give final approval of a $35 million settlement resolving their antitrust claims against Pfizer over the cholesterol medication Lipitor.

  • August 28, 2024

    Teamsters Can't Arbitrate Sysco Pension Spat, Judge Says

    A Teamsters local can't take its challenges about a monthly early retirement benefit to arbitration, a Michigan federal judge determined Wednesday, finding that the grievance process under a collective bargaining agreement doesn't cover the dispute.

  • August 28, 2024

    Engineering Co. Says Overpriced 401(k) Fee Suit Lacks Proof

    An engineering company urged a Virginia federal judge to toss a former employee's proposed class action alleging it automatically enrolled workers into a pricey managed account program in its $5.1 billion retirement plan, arguing that her suit hinges on a problematic "apples-to-oranges comparison."

  • August 28, 2024

    11th Circ. Trans Health Redo May Spark Supreme Court Fight

    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision to rehear Georgia county officials' appeal seeking to exclude gender-confirmation surgery from its employee healthcare coverage rekindles an appellate debate on the extent to which Title VII protects transgender workers that could soon reach the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys say.

  • August 28, 2024

    'Big Baby' Scores Delayed Prison Date In Health Fraud Case

    Former Boston Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis won approval from a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday to push back his prison surrender date on healthcare fraud charges so he can wrap up production of a documentary film.

  • August 28, 2024

    Insurer Avoids Covering $1.9M Conn. Securities Judgment

    A Liberty Mutual unit has no duty to cover an approximately $1.9 million stipulated judgment a couple won after alleging that certain officials of a company Liberty insured defrauded them into investing, a Connecticut state court ruled, finding that covering the judgment would violate state public policy.

  • August 28, 2024

    Conn. Investment Firm Withheld Pay, Commissions, Suit Says

    Six former employees of Connecticut investment advisory firm Excel Wealth Management LLC have sued the company and its members in state court seeking hourly wages or commissions they claimed they were never paid, with some alleging they were terminated for speaking out about their compensation.  

  • August 28, 2024

    Class Attys Seek Review Of Del. Magistrate's Doc Suit Toss

    Stockholder attorneys probing Paramount Global's allegedly conflicted Skydance Media merger in Delaware's Chancery Court have challenged as unsupportable and unprecedented a magistrate's rejection of anonymously sourced news reports in a dismissal of their bid for court-ordered document access.

  • August 28, 2024

    Ga. Appeals Court Says Worker Should Get Pandemic Aid

    The Georgia Court of Appeals overturned a superior court order affirming the denial of pandemic unemployment assistance benefits to a college student who worked part-time at a Chick-fil-A, saying both the trial court and the Georgia Department of Labor's review board wrongly found he quit his job for personal reasons.

  • August 28, 2024

    Auto Parts Co. Secures Initial OK For $2.9M 401(k) Deal

    A Michigan federal judge gave an initial green light Wednesday to a $2.9 million agreement to resolve a class action accusing auto parts manufacturer Magna International of failing to remove flawed investment options from its retirement plan and costing workers millions of dollars in retirement savings.

  • August 28, 2024

    Conn. Dental Practices Settle False Claims Case For $1.7M

    Three dental practices in Connecticut and their owners have paid a $1.7 million settlement after federal and state authorities accused them of using an illegal patient recruiting tactic and paying kickbacks that ripped off Medicaid.

  • August 28, 2024

    DOL Backs IBM Retirees' Bid To Revive Suit At 2nd Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Second Circuit to revive a proposed class action alleging IBM shorted retirees on pension payments through the use of outdated mortality data, stating the lower court's ruling tossing the case "flies in the face" of U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • August 27, 2024

    'Big Baby' Asks To Wrap Documentary Before Going To Prison

    Former Boston Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis asked a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday to delay the start of his 40-month prison sentence for his role in a scheme to submit fraudulent invoices to an NBA healthcare plan in order to finish filming a documentary about his life.

Expert Analysis

  • ERISA Litigation Faces New Frontiers In 2024

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    As plaintiffs firms explore novel theories for recovery and the Department of Labor attempts to broaden the definition of an investment advice fiduciary, 2024 could see new types of Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation after just 100 class actions were filed last year, say attorneys at Groom Law.

  • Series

    Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.

  • Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?

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    Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.

  • 7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

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    The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Securities Class Actions Show No Signs of Slowing In 2024

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    Plaintiffs asserted securities class actions at elevated levels in 2023 — a sign that filings will remain high in the year ahead — as they switched gears to target companies that allegedly have failed to anticipate supply chain disruptions, persistent inflation, rising interest rates and other macroeconomic headwinds, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Justice O'Connor Was Architect of ERISA's Lasting Success

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    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor laid the foundations of Employee Retirement Income Security Act jurisprudence, defining a default standard of review, preemption rules and the act's interplay with employment law, through opinions that are still instructive as ERISA approaches its 50th anniversary, says José Jara at Fox Rothschild.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

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    Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Disability Benefits Ruling Holds Claim Evaluation Lessons

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    In Haynes v. Principal Life Insurance, a Texas federal court recently overturned a disability benefits denial, providing both claimants and insurers with valuable insight on what constitutes a valid benefits claim, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • 5 Securities Litigation Issues To Watch In 2024

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    There is yet another exciting year ahead for securities litigation, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court hearing argument next week in a case presenting a key securities class action question that has eluded review for the last eight years, say attorneys at Willkie.

  • 4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

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    As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.

  • 3 Compliance Reminders For Calif. Employers In 2024

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    As we enter into the new year, several recent updates to California employment law — including minimum wage and sick leave requirements — necessitate immediate compliance actions for employers, says Daniel Pyne at Hopkins & Carley.

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

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    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

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    Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

  • The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

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    A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.

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