Key takeaway: The Supreme Court held that to state an ERISA prohibited-transaction claim under 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a), a plaintiff needs only to plausibly allege the elements contained in § 1106(a) itself and does not need to...more
4/21/2025
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Appeals ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pleading Standards ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rule 11 ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority
Key takeaway: The Supreme Court granted certiorari to address the pleading standards for prohibited-transaction claims under 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a).
On October 4, 2024, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cunningham v....more
A recent summary judgment decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in an ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) class action challenging the alleged impact of environmental, social,...more
7/11/2024
/ 401k ,
American Airlines ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Proxy Voting ,
Retirement Plan
On December 1, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a district court’s certification of a nationwide class of 8,000+ retirement plans serving hundreds of thousands of participants in an ERISA action...more
12/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Loans ,
Predominance Requirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
TIAA CREF ,
Vacated
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
4/7/2022
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Investment Management ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Summary Judgment
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
12/17/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Products ,
Investors ,
Oral Argument ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
10/14/2021
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Administrative Expenses ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investors ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Plan Participants ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment ,
Vacated
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
7/30/2021
/ 401k ,
Administrative Expenses ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Certiorari ,
Class Certification ,
Co-payments ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forum Selection ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Investors ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pensions ,
Pleading Standards ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Thole v U.S. Bank
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
4/8/2021
/ 401k ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Investors ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Thursday, February 4, affirmed the dismissal of an ERISA class-action lawsuit filed against General Electric Company and its former CEO. The complaint had alleged the...more
2/8/2021
/ 401k ,
Appeals ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Dismissals ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retirement Plan ,
Stock Options
The delay came in response to the Presidential Memorandum issued on February 3, 2017, regarding the Fiduciary Rule. The Presidential Memorandum directed the DOL to conduct an updated impact assessment on whether the Rule “may...more
The DOL’s proposal comes in response to the Presidential Memorandum issued on February 3, 2017, regarding the Fiduciary Rule. The Presidential Memorandum directed the DOL to conduct an updated impact assessment on whether the...more
The Second Circuit court of appeals held that a court can exercise its equitable powers to reform the terms of a cash balance retirement plan to provide greater benefits than stated in response to material misstatements made...more
The Supreme Court overturned the Sixth Circuit’s long-standing Yard-Man presumption, ruling that courts should apply ordinary contract principles to determine whether benefits have vested....more
Lockheed Martin Corp. has settled the 401(k) excessive fee litigation pending against it in federal court in Illinois....more
Nationwide Life Insurance Co. has agreed to settle ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought on behalf of a class of retirement plan trustees that purchased annuity contracts and/or services from Nationwide for their plans....more
In a recent Eleventh Circuit case challenging, under ERISA, the use of proprietary funds in a financial services company’s own retirement plan, the court affirmed dismissal of the claims. It held, in Fuller v. SunTrust...more
The U.S. government, through a brief submitted by the Solicitor General, is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to consider clarifying when a plaintiff may state a claim against plan fiduciaries for the continued holding of...more