Benefits

  • November 20, 2024

    Amazon Settles Military Leave Bias Suit Ahead Of Trial

    Amazon has settled an employee's suit claiming the online retail giant blocked him from promotions because he took leave to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, prompting a Washington federal judge on Wednesday to halt a trial that was set to begin in the case next month.

  • November 20, 2024

    Firms For Ohio Funds Aim To Steer ZoomInfo Investor Suit

    Two Ohio retirement funds asked a Washington federal judge to name their attorneys from Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP and Byrnes Keller Cromwell LLP as lead counsel and liaison counsel in investor claims brought against ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. over its allegedly misguided attempts to maintain a pandemic-era customer boom.

  • November 20, 2024

    US Chamber Backs Fla. City In ADA Retirement Benefits Suit

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the U.S. Supreme Court to back the Eleventh Circuit's determination that federal disability law doesn't protect former employees from post-employment bias, arguing a former Florida firefighter is trying to stretch the statute beyond what Congress intended.

  • November 20, 2024

    Pa. Justices Ask Why CBD Isn't 'Medicine' For Hurt Workers

    Justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court questioned Wednesday why they should accept an insurer's assertion that hemp-derived CBD oil should be deemed dangerous, when an injured attorney's physician had prescribed it for pain relief as part of his workers' compensation treatment plan.

  • November 20, 2024

    MVP: Zuckerman Spaeder's D. Brian Hufford

    D. Brian Hufford of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP secured key wins for his clients over the past year in cases challenging thousands of healthcare coverage denials, including a victory at the Ninth Circuit where he was able to change the court's mind on the third try, earning him a spot as a 2024 Law360 Benefits MVP.

  • November 19, 2024

    Vets' Attys Want Nonprofit To Get $63M Of Agent Orange Funds

    Counsel representing a class of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and their survivors in litigation that settled 33 years ago urged a California federal judge on Tuesday to hand $63 million in unclaimed funds to a legal nonprofit, a request the federal government has contested.

  • November 19, 2024

    CSX Can't Escape FMLA Suit Over Attendance Policies

    CSX Transportation can't beat a proposed class action alleging certain attendance and pay policies unlawfully penalize engineers, conductors and switchmen who take medical leave, an Ohio federal judge ruled, saying a jury should sort out how comparable other types of absences are.

  • November 19, 2024

    UnitedHealthcare Can't Escape Patient's Proton Beam Suit

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday refused to toss a federal benefits lawsuit from a patient who alleged that UnitedHealthcare wrongly denied him coverage for proton beam therapy to treat tongue cancer, rejecting the insurer's argument that an exclusion for unproven treatments applied.

  • November 19, 2024

    Insurers Urge Arbitration Of Union Fund's ERISA Claims

    Elevance Health Inc. and several affiliated health insurers want a Connecticut federal judge to force arbitration of claims brought by a union fund that alleges excessive fees violated benefits law, arguing that the companies were unaware of an arbitration agreement with the plaintiff when they started litigating the early stages of a proposed class action.

  • November 19, 2024

    US Chamber, Biz Groups Back Halt Of Ill. Temp Worker Law

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations backed a bid by a group of staffing associations and agencies to block enforcement of an Illinois law mandating benefits for long-term temporary workers, saying the amended law still distorts the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • November 19, 2024

    MVP: Mayer Brown's Brantley Webb

    Brantley Webb of Mayer Brown LLP's U.S. Supreme Court and appellate practice group guided Yale University and Wood Group PLC to trial victories in Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuits and convinced the D.C. Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a challenge to Georgetown University's retirement plans, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Benefits MVPs.

  • November 18, 2024

    Fringe Benefits Co.'s Ex-Atty Can't 'Abandon' Them, DOL Says

    The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday urged a Maryland federal court not to let a fringe benefits company's former attorney "abandon" the company ahead of a civil contempt hearing over $3.8 million in unpaid mismanaged funds meant for government contractor employees' benefits, citing potentially "severe" consequences for the company.

  • November 18, 2024

    $100M Deal In Suit Over Walgreens Rx Prices Gets First OK

    An Illinois federal judge gave an initial blessing Monday to a $100 million deal resolving claims from consumers and unions that Walgreens unlawfully overcharged insured consumers for prescription drugs while allowing members of its cost savings club to pay less.

  • November 18, 2024

    Amazon Worker Can't Add Retaliation Claim To December Trial

    A federal judge in Washington state has rejected a worker's eleventh-hour bid to amend his lawsuit accusing Amazon of passing him up for a promotion after he took protected military leave, saying the operations manager cannot "ambush" the e-commerce giant with fresh retaliation allegations just weeks before a trial in December.

  • November 18, 2024

    Bechtel Retiree Seeks Class Status In 401(k) Fee Suit

    A Bechtel Global Corp. retiree asked a Virginia federal judge to let her represent 7,000 retirement plan participants in her suit claiming the engineering company overcharged its $5.7 billion plan by tapping a pricey default investment option.

  • November 18, 2024

    MVP: McDermott's Allison Wilkerson

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP's Allison Wilkerson led the firm's employee stock ownership plan practice group through numerous high-profile deals this year, including accounting firm BDO's $1.3 billion transaction to create its ESOP and multiple acquisitions of ESOP-owned companies, landing her a spot among the 2024 Law360 Benefits MVPs.

  • November 18, 2024

    High Court Turns Away Ex-Volvo Worker's Military Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a U.S. Army veteran's suit claiming Volvo fired her because of her military service and post-traumatic stress disorder, leaving in place a Seventh Circuit decision that refused to reinstate a $7.8 million jury verdict in her favor.

  • November 15, 2024

    PBMs Denied Breakup Of Combined FTC Insulin Price Trial

    The Federal Trade Commission's allegations that pharmacy benefit manager giants Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx are artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes will forge ahead as a single case following an in-house agency judge's refusal to break them into separate proceedings.

  • November 15, 2024

    Despite Vaccine Spotlight, RFK Jr. A Health Policy 'Unknown'

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be the nation's top health official, has made clear his unorthodox and often false views on public health issues like vaccines. But there's still plenty of policy under his potential control where his stance remains opaque, attorneys say, which could stymie their efforts to prepare for the next four years.

  • November 15, 2024

    Pa. Top Court Snapshot: Silent Partners, Skill Games In Nov.

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's November argument schedule will task the justices with determining whether a property owner's absentee partner is an "indispensable party," whether CBD oil is reimbursable under workers' comp, and whether operating legally gray "skill games" should disqualify someone from getting a gaming license.

  • November 15, 2024

    Semiconductor Co. ASML Faces Suit Over Trade Downturn

    Semiconductor industry supplier ASML Holding NV has been hit with a shareholder class action alleging that it stunned investors as it significantly lowered its 2025 revenue forecast after earlier brushing off the potential impact of economic headwinds affecting its industry.

  • November 15, 2024

    Veterans Seek Class Certification In Burn Pit Injuries Suit

    A pair of veterans alleging the military misclassified their burn pit injuries as not combat-related have told a D.C. federal judge that they satisfied the criteria for size and common relief sought to proceed as a certified class.

  • November 15, 2024

    Tenneco Asks Justices To Review 6th Circ. Arbitration Denial

    Automotive parts company Tenneco asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review a Sixth Circuit decision from August that refused to force individual arbitration of a proposed class action from workers alleging retirement plan mismanagement, arguing lower courts had disagreed on how to apply federal arbitration law.

  • November 15, 2024

    McDermott Welcomes Back Employee Benefits Atty In DC

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP's status as a top BigLaw firm with a specialized practice focused on employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs, prompted an employee benefits attorney to recently return to the firm's Washington, D.C., office.

  • November 15, 2024

    Hospital Workers' 2nd Circ. Appeal May Wait For Deloitte Case

    Workers for Montefiore Medical Center seeking to revive retirement plan mismanagement allegations may see a delayed ruling in their case until another Second Circuit panel rules on similar claims against Deloitte, a panel judge said Friday during proceedings.

Expert Analysis

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • 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.

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