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Mealey's ERISA

October 07, 2024
High Court Seeks U.S. Input On Whether To Review PBM Law Preemption Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 invited the U.S. solicitor general to weigh in on an opposed petition for review of a ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Medicare Part D partially preempt an Oklahoma pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM) law.
October 04, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Owed For Class Actions Alleging Employees Were Underpaid

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 3 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that an insurance policy’s “wage and hour violation” exclusion barred coverage for two underlying class lawsuits alleging that the insured conducted an unlawful scheme of underpaying some of its employees.
October 04, 2024
High Court Will Review 2nd Circuit ERISA Prohibited Transaction Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4 granted a certiorari petition regarding a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling involving what is necessary to state an Employee Retirement Income Security Act prohibited transaction claim for a transaction between a plan fiduciary and a party in interest.
October 04, 2024
4th Circuit Vacates Multiemployer Fund Contribution Ruling As To Damages

RICHMOND, Va. — A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 3 upheld a liability ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act dispute over multiemployer benefit fund contributions but said while it “largely agree[s]” with the trial court on damages, it is “constrained to vacate that ruling and remand for further proceedings on certain damages-related issues.”
October 03, 2024
Retirees: $10M Would Be ‘Landmark Recovery’ In Actuarial Equivalence Case

CHICAGO — Saying it would be a “landmark recovery,” retirees who filed an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over allegedly outdated mortality tables used to calculate joint and survivor annuity (JSA) benefits in two Citgo Petroleum Corp. pension plans on Oct. 2 asked an Illinois federal court for preliminary approval of a $10 million class settlement plus up to $4.75 million for attorney fees, expenses and service awards.
October 03, 2024
Discovery Ruling Issued In Insurance Fraud Suit Seeking Relief Under ERISA, UCL

LOS ANGELES — A California federal magistrate judge substantially granted a motion to compel discovery filed by a cheese manufacturing company in its suit against surgery centers for alleged fraudulent billing for health care plan benefits related to unnecessary or unperformed medical services, restitution under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), finding in part that the defendants’ privacy concerns are outweighed by the need for the discovery information that will be reviewed under a stipulated protection order that will address those concerns.
October 03, 2024
10th Circuit Addresses ERISA Disclosures In Coverage Dispute Ruling

DENVER — On review of several decisions in a case over residential treatment coverage, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated summary judgment for the insureds on a Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Parity Act) claim for lack of standing and, in “an issue of first impression in this circuit,” ruled that an administrative services agreement (ASA) falls within an Employee Retirement Income Security Act disclosure requirement.
October 03, 2024
Judge Strikes Renewed Jury Demand In ERISA Suit Over NYU Retirement Plans

NEW YORK — Striking a jury demand asserted in a second amended complaint filed in a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over New York University (NYU) retirement plan fees and funds, a New York federal judge ruled in part that the amendments did not revive the plaintiffs’ right to a jury trial.
October 01, 2024
Summary Judgment Bid Fails In ERISA Class Action Over Mortality Tables

NEW YORK — Denying a summary judgment motion filed by a life insurer and related defendants in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action challenging the use of allegedly outdated mortality tables in calculating qualified joint and survivor annuity (QJSA) benefits, a New York federal judge said he was reserving expert disputes and other issues for a bench trial.
October 01, 2024
Adopting Groetzinger, 6th Circuit Partly Reverses Withdrawal Liability Ruling

CINCINNATI — Partly reversing a ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel adopted the test outlined in Commissioner v. Groetzinger, 480 U.S. 23 (1987), saying that the trial court applied the wrong test but it made a difference for only the wife of the couple involved, who therefore is not personally liable for withdrawal liability.
October 01, 2024
Insurers Again Rebut Lab’s Effort To Establish ERISA Standing For Testing Repayment

NEWARK, N.J. — After a New Jersey federal judge allowed a medical testing laboratory seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 testing from two insurers to amend its complaint, concluding that further amendment could resolve a question of whether the laboratory has derivative standing under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the insurers moved a third time to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
October 01, 2024
11th Circuit Denies En Banc Hearing In ERISA Row Over Exhaustion Precedent

ATLANTA — Rejecting a request that drew amicus curiae support from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied initial hearing en banc in the suit where appellants seek the overturn of longstanding circuit precedent concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuits.
September 27, 2024
Judge: Loper Bright Argument In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Row Merits Consideration

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After supplemental briefing in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case the U.S. Department of Labor filed over a tobacco surcharge wellness program (TSWP), an Ohio federal judge on Sept. 26 denied dismissal without prejudice, saying the defendants’ argument regarding the impact of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo “warrants full consideration.”
September 27, 2024
Federal Bankruptcy Judge Upholds PBGC Regulations In Withdrawal Liability Row

WILMINGTON, Del. — Ruling on four partial summary judgment motions in the Chapter 11 cases of trucking company Yellow Corp. and its affiliates over $6.5 billion in withdrawal liability, a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge rejected challenges to two Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) regulations regarding federal funds awarded to multiemployer pension plans.
September 26, 2024
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of ERISA Suit Over $65M In Drug Rebates

NEWARK, N.J. — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 25 upheld dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit concerning approximately $65 million in drug rebates for lack of standing but said it doesn’t read two key precedents as “broadly” as the trial court did.
September 25, 2024
Class Settlements Totaling $14.5M Get Preliminary OK In Suit Over ESOP Deal

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Sept. 24 granted preliminary approval to two class settlements the plaintiffs said would sit “at the high end of the range of settlements resolving” similar employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claims, with a combined recovery of $14.5 million that would average “about $41,076 per Class Member before fees, costs, and expenses.”
September 24, 2024
Another ERISA Suit Over Use Of Retirement Plan Forfeitures Is Dismissed

SAN DIEGO — As Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims over use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement plan contributions become more widespread, a California federal judge granted dismissal of one of the first suits to focus on the issue but allowed leave to amend.
September 24, 2024
Cigna, Insureds Debate ERISA, UCL Impact On AI Claims Denial Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Individuals allegedly denied coverage by an artificial intelligence algorithm employed by Employee Retirement Income Security Act insurer Cigna Corp. debated whether the program’s use violated plan terms on how the company would review claims, preemption and whether California unfair competition law claims were properly pleaded in briefing over a motion to dismiss a third amended complaint.
September 24, 2024
DOL To Challenge Stay Of New Investment Advice Fiduciary Rule In 5th Circuit

Notices of appeal have been filed for two July rulings in Texas federal courts that imposed a nationwide stay of the effective date of a new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rule that redefines and broadens who is an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
September 23, 2024
9th Circuit Orders More Briefing In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Arbitration Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — Following oral argument in which the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) participated as amicus curiae supporting application of the effective vindication doctrine in a putative class case, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ordered supplemental briefing in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over a tobacco surcharge.
September 20, 2024
5th Circuit Likens Reversal Of Insurer’s Denial To Sister Circuit Rulings

NEW ORLEANS — In a Sept. 19 reversal calling one of the insurer’s statements “a doozy,” a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled an insurer’s denial of partial-hospitalization benefits for child’s eating disorder substantively and procedurally deficient, also saying the insurer’s failure to respond to an administrative appeal regarding reimbursement rate “forfeited its rights to contest” that issue.
September 19, 2024
3rd Circuit Orders Judgment For Trustees, Grandchildren In Trust Benefits Row

PHILADELPHIA — In a Sept. 18 nonprecedential disposition resolving all claims in a long-running case where trustees and grandchildren of the trust settlor had been ruled liable for tens of millions in underfunding, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel disagreed with the trial court’s key holding that the “coverage provision” of the Employee Retirement Act “is triggered on the facts of this case.”
September 19, 2024
Class Counsel Get A Third Of $7.5M Settlement In ERISA Proprietary Trusts Row

FLORENCE, S.C. — A $7.5 million global class settlement in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over a retirement plan’s use of proprietary collective investment trusts (CITs) has been granted final approval, with a South Carolina federal judge awarding $2.5 million of the settlement for attorney fees, $100,000 for service awards and $659,240.95 for litigation expenses.
September 18, 2024
Appeal Filed, Attorney Fee Bid Contested In Suit Over Missouri’s ESG Factor Rules

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri state officials have filed a notice of appeal regarding a ruling that imposed a statewide permanent injunction barring enforcement of parts of two new rules a trade association said would have required “a state-authored script” for “incorporating a social or nonfinancial objective into investment advice.”
September 18, 2024
Disability Claimant Must Return $322K Overpayment To Disability Plan, Judge Says

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — A disability plan’s determination that a claimant must return $322,000 in overpayments made by the plan to the claimant was not an abuse of discretion because the plan requires any overpayment of benefits to be returned to the plan, a South Carolina federal judge said in granting the plan’s motion for summary judgment.