The U.S. Supreme Court on April 17, 2025, issued a greatly anticipated decision in which the justices unanimously held that plaintiffs alleging a prohibited transaction under Section 1106(a)(1)(C) of the Employee Retirement...more
4/23/2025
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Cost-Shifting ,
Cunningham v Cornell University ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pleading Standards ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rule 11 ,
Sanctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing
A recent wave of cases has attempted to apply the theory of liability for retirement plan excessive fee cases to health plans – specifically, arrangements with pharmacy benefit managers.
Though the cases thus far have...more
4/11/2025
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standing
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Jan. 16, 2025, released its long-awaited proposed regulation interpreting the definition of "adequate consideration" as applied to private company stock acquired or sold by an employee...more
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued its written decision in Shipp v. Central States Manufacturing, Inc. on July 5, 2024, declining to dismiss the case against Central States Manufacturing Inc....more
Courts around the country continue to approach the enforceability of class-action waivers and arbitration provisions in ERISA plan documents differently. This alert discusses recent decisions addressing these issues in ERISA...more
In an opinion issued in Smith v. Rockwell Automation, Inc., et al., No. 19-C-0505 (E.D. Wis.) on Feb. 10, 2020, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman denied Rockwell Automation's motion to dismiss a putative class action complaint...more
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a U.S. District Court's application of deferential standard to the review of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) administrator's decision based on broad...more
9/5/2018
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Accrued Benefits ,
Appeals ,
Death Benefits ,
Denial of Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ESOP ,
Plan Administrators ,
Preemption ,
Standard of Review ,
Summary Judgment
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Munro v. University of Southern California concluded that an arbitration provision in individual employment contracts could not be used to compel...more
7/31/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Mismanagement ,
Plan Documents ,
Retirement Funds ,
Section 409A
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit's Aug. 25, 2016, decision in Allen v. GreatBanc Trust Co., No. 15-3569, made it the first court in a published opinion to expressly reject Fifth Third Bancorp v....more
9/20/2016
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Reversal ,
Special Circumstances Doctrine ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Stocks ,
Trustees