Since 1984, citation to Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council ("Chevron") has meant that courts should defer to an agency's interpretations of an ambiguous statute—as long as the agency's interpretation is...more
8/28/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Class Action ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
SECURE Act ,
Statutory Interpretation
Commonly referred to as "excessive fee" litigation, class actions that allege retirement plan investments charge too much and earn too little have increased over the past two decades. Excessive fee cases are difficult to...more
5/30/2024
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Burden of Proof ,
Class Action ,
Depositions ,
Discovery ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Jurisdiction ,
Jury Trial ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, thereby holding that the U.S. Constitution does not expressly or implicitly protect...more
On April 25, 2022, Judge Thomas Zilly of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed a class action lawsuit that had been filed in federal court by DWT on behalf of employers and employees...more
The Washington State Long-Term Care Program, long under the radar, should now be at the top of every Washington state employer's mind—as well as their employees. The law mandates long-term care benefits for Washington...more
Washington state has passed the nation's first public-operated, long-term care insurance program—the Long Term Care (LTC) Act—which is paid for by employees through employer withholding as a payroll tax. The statute is a...more
Fueled by concerns regarding investments made for environmental, social and corporate governance, or similar considerations (ESG) in retirement plans, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed amendments to the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision, Thole v U.S. Bank, on June 1, 2020, has limited the right of defined benefit plan participants to sue for fiduciary violations to situations in which the defined benefit plan is unable to...more
6/8/2020
/ Article III ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mismanagement ,
Pensions ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Thole v U.S. Bank
The IRS has taken action to ensure that COVID-19 testing and treatment are not deterred by the rules for high-deductible plans. Health Spending Accounts (HSA) coupled with High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) have become a...more
ERISA requires Summary Plan Descriptions and other disclosures to be "written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant." ERISA section 102(a). ...more
The DOL issued final regulations that changed the handling of claims and appeals of disability determinations under benefit plans governed by ERISA. Here is what your benefits department needs to know and do:
1. Effective...more
“A” gets hit by a drunk driver and incurs $121,044 in medical expenses. The ERISA Plan agrees to pay the expenses if “A” contractually agrees to reimburse the Plan for any recovery obtained as the result of any legal action...more
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Tibble v. Edison International and remanded for determination of the scope of an ERISA plan fiduciary’s duty to monitor plan investments...more
The courts have been busy in 2014, addressing a variety of issues in the employee benefits field in decisions that impact everyone from union travelers to ESOP fiduciaries. This advisory summarizes a selection of the 2014...more
9/19/2014
/ Blue Cross ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Multi-Employer Pensions ,
Negligence ,
Nonprofits ,
Religious Institutions ,
TPAs ,
Traveling Employee
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Windsor v. United States holding that same-sex marriages valid under state law are now recognized at the federal level, thereby transforming the treatment of...more
7/1/2013
/ Civil Unions ,
COBRA ,
DOMA ,
Domestic Partnership ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equal Protection ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hollingsworth v Perry ,
Income Taxes ,
Proposition 8 ,
Retirement Plan ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
US v Windsor
In U.S. Airways v. McCutchen, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ability of U.S. Airways’ health plan to recover medical expenses that it previously paid to the injured party from a third party settlement, but remanded the...more
On Nov. 6, 2012, Washington voters approved same-sex marriage in Washington state. This advisory explains the impact of this new law on employee benefit plans and procedures, and revisits the treatment of employee benefits...more