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Arbitration Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Arbitration is a widely-used method for settling disputes between parties. During arbitration, parties submit their dispute to an impartial third person or party, usually chosen by the parties. Typically, parties... more +
Arbitration is a widely-used method for settling disputes between parties. During arbitration, parties submit their dispute to an impartial third person or party, usually chosen by the parties. Typically, parties to arbitration agree in advance to be bound by the arbitrator's decision. Arbitration is an alternative to litigation, but it shares many of the familiar features of litigation. Namely, parties to arbitration hold hearings before neutral decision-makers, present evidence and argue the merits of their position. Parties often choose arbitration due to its perceived advantages over litigation. Those perceived advantages include greater efficiency and flexibility, and lower costs. less -
Jackson Lewis P.C.

Withdrawal Liability Collection Scope Expanded

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Takeaway Related Links Article The Third Circuit’s recent ruling enhanced a pension fund’s ability to pursue withdrawal liability collection against affiliated employers. The decision underscores the evolving nature of ERISA,...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

District Court Holds Pension Fund Misapplied Prior Partial Withdrawal Liability Credit

A federal district court in Illinois became the first court to rule that an employer’s credit for a prior partial withdrawal should be applied at the end of the statute’s “waterfall” for calculating withdrawal liability. The...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The whole job offer fiasco

I have been an ERISA attorney since 1998. More than half my career now has been in my practice for 15 years this April. For about a three-year run from 2007-2010, I had three different jobs, and the whole process of working...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

District Court Holds Withdrawal Liability Claim Not Barred by Employer’s Dissolution

In Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Sheets Enterprise, No. 24 cv 2277 (N.D. Ill.), a district court held that an employer could not avoid being held liable for withdrawal liability simply because it...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

For At Least One Employer, Reliance on an Outdated Arbitration Agreement Proved to be a Losing Gamble

As we have reported time and again, California courts have applied extra scrutiny to employee arbitration agreements in recent years, and have not hesitated to deny arbitration where there is a reasonable basis for doing so. ...more

Carlton Fields

Eleventh Circuit Holds Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable Against Spouse of Former Employee

Carlton Fields on

In Lubin v. Starbucks Corp., the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals considered defendant Starbucks’ appeal of an order denying its motion to compel arbitration of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit alleging that Starbucks sent deficient...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

District Court Rules Employer’s Withdrawal Liability Cannot Be Based on Post-Rehabilitation Plan Contribution Increases

In Central States, S.E. & S.W. Pension Fund v. McKesson Corp., No. 23-cv-16770, 2025 WL 81358 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 13, 2025), the district court affirmed that a multiemployer pension plan’s calculation of withdrawal liability...more

Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph

The Role of Delegation Clauses in Motions to Compel Arbitration When Your Family Member Signs an Arbitration Agreement

It happens every so often: someone signs an agreement to arbitrate legal claims, the agreement has a solid clause delegating arbitrability issues to an arbitrator, and then a member of that person’s family files a claim in...more

JAMS

Recent Developments in the Enforcement of ERISA Class Action Waiver and Arbitration Clauses

JAMS on

In recent months, various federal district and circuit courts have considered the enforceability of language in employer-sponsored retirement and welfare plans requiring that participants arbitrate their claims for breach of...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Sixth Circuit Again Invalidates ERISA Plan Arbitration Clause

The Sixth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s dismissal, and order requiring arbitration of, a proposed class action alleging fiduciary breaches in connection with the Kellogg Company 401(k) plan. Fleming v. Kellogg...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

You shouldn’t waive your participant rights under an arbitration provision

I’m glad that the Sixth Circuit has joined other Federal appeals courts in stating that arbitration provisions are invalid as a prospective waiver of rights and remedies guaranteed under ERISA....more

Carlton Fields

Second Circuit Rejects Enforcement of Class Waiver and Arbitration Agreement Under FAA, Finds That Provisions Impermissibly...

Carlton Fields on

The plaintiff sued the trustee of his retirement plan, his former employer, and others for breach of fiduciary duties in connection with the plan’s purchase of shares of the employer’s parent company for more than fair market...more

Proskauer - Health Care Law Brief

No Surprises Here!  Divergent Court Rulings Spotlight Ongoing Challenges in No Surprises Act Implementation; Tee Up Split in...

Two District Courts have reached opposite conclusions on the enforceability of arbitration awards under the No Surprises Act (“NSA”). The two decisions, while far from the final word on the subject, highlight the most recent...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Second Circuit Weighs in Against ERISA Arbitration

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Recently, the Second Circuit became the latest circuit refusing to enforce individual arbitration of an ERISA class action, joining the Third, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits. The Ninth Circuit, by contrast, has held that class...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Second Circuit Holds that Plan Arbitration Provisions that Force Plaintiff to Surrender Statutory Right To Plan-Wide Relief Are...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

The Second Circuit recently ruled that an ERISA plan’s arbitration provision was not enforceable because the provision barred plan-wide relief. Cedeno v. Sasson, 2024 WL 1895053 (2d Cir. May 1, 2024). The Court decision...more

Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP

Second Circuit Casts Doubt on Overly Restrictive Arbitration Clauses in ERISA Plans

Employers in New York, Connecticut and Vermont should revisit their employee benefit plan documents if they believe that any of their plans may have an arbitration clause for the resolution of Employee Retirement Income...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

In Split Ruling Second Circuit Declines to Compel Arbitration of ERISA Plan Claims

They say that April showers bring May flowers, but there were no flowers for ERISA plan sponsors and fiduciaries on May 1 when the Second Circuit held, in a ruling that provoked a vigorous dissenting opinion, that an ERISA...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Seventh Circuit Orders Pension Fund to Return Withdrawal Liability to Employer

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

An employer can contest a withdrawal liability assessment and ultimately prevail. That is the moral of Bulk Transport Corp. v. Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund, No. 23-1563 (7th Cir. Mar. 22, 2024). Withdrawal...more

Littler

D.C. Circuit Breaks from Second Circuit, Finds Pension Fund May Retroactively Change Its Interest Rate Assumptions

Littler on

On February 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in Trustees of IAM Nat'l Pension Fund v. M & K Emp. Sols., LLC, No. 22-7157 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 9, 2024), affirming the district court’s...more

Alston & Bird

Class Action & MDL Roundup 2023 Q3 - Catching the Class Action Waive(r)

Alston & Bird on

Welcome back to the Class Action & MDL Roundup! This edition covers notable class actions from the third quarter of 2023. In this edition, a mistake is just a mistake, “99.99%” isn’t 100% clear, and faxes aren’t always...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

District Court Finds Arbitration and Class Action Waiver Provision Enforceable in Retirement Plan

The Eastern District of Kentucky recently became the latest court to weigh in on arbitration and class action waiver provisions in ERISA-governed defined contribution plans. In Merrow v. Horizon Bank, the court found such a...more

Holland & Knight LLP

The Law on ERISA Plan Arbitration Provisions Remains Unsettled

Holland & Knight LLP on

As previously discussed, courts continue to disagree over the enforceability of mandatory arbitration provisions containing class action waivers set forth in benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - October 2023

In the October Monthly Minute, we highlight a 6th Circuit decision that puts a spotlight on the adequacy of claim procedures and related judicial standards of review, and review the Supreme Court’s unwillingness to enter the...more

Kilpatrick

Supreme Court Declines to Clarify Enforceability of Mandatory Arbitration for Fiduciary Breach Claims

Kilpatrick on

Are mandatory arbitration provisions with class action waivers a simple solution to the onslaught of class action litigation that has plagued 401(k) plans in recent years? The results so far have been mixed. Some courts have...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb – July Employment Appellate Roundup

Littler on

This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month....more

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