News & Analysis as of

Employee Benefits ERISA Litigation

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

In a Rare Move, the DOL Backs the Employer in a Forfeiture Allocation Case—But Don’t Pop the Champagne Just Yet

Sometimes, in the strange world of ERISA litigation, you get a surprise. And in Hutchins v. Hewlett Packard, we got one: the Department of Labor, yes, that DOL, the one whose name alone strikes fear into the heart of many...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Intel Wins: Ninth Circuit Puts the Brakes on Anti-Private Equity Lawsuit

After six long years of litigation, Intel’s 401(k) plan design just got a big legal endorsement. A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit dismissed a lawsuit filed by plan participants who claimed that including hedge funds...more

Haynes Boone

DOL Approves the Use of Forfeitures to Offset Employer Contributions

Haynes Boone on

In a lawsuit currently under appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the court has been asked to decide whether the plan administrator violated its fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty under ERISA when...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Forfeiture Fiasco: Why the DOL and Common Sense are on the Right Side of the HP Case

It’s not often you see the U.S. Department of Labor jumping into the legal ring to back plan sponsors, but when they do, you know something bigger is at stake than just one plan participant’s gripe. That’s exactly what...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Employers Continue to Face ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuits, With Mixed Results

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Recently, companies have seen a spate of class action lawsuits challenging the legality of tobacco cessation wellness programs and related tobacco surcharges imposed by their employer-sponsored health benefit plans....more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - August 2025

Saul Ewing LLP on

This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions including deference to initial benefits decisions in de novo reviews, the recovery of fees incurred in pre-litigation administrative proceedings, proof of disability due to...more

Carlton Fields

Idaho Federal Court Grants Motion to Compel Discovery of Reinsurance Information for Employee Benefit ERISA Plan

Carlton Fields on

In THC–Orange County LLC v. Regence BlueShield of Idaho Inc., the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho addressed a motion by plaintiff THC–Orange County LLC, doing business as Kindred Hospital Ontario, to conduct...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

401(k) Forfeiture Litigation: Implications for Plan Sponsors

Background - In a wave of class-action litigation beginning around 2023, plaintiffs have alleged violations of fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and prohibited transaction rules in...more

Mayer Brown

The Current State of the Law in ERISA Forfeitures Cases

Mayer Brown on

Since September 2023, ERISA plaintiff’s firms have filed approximately 60 class action lawsuits challenging the longstanding practice of plan sponsors using plan forfeitures to offset their employer contributions in 401(k)...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Forfeitures, Fiduciary Failures, and Cigna: Another Lesson in ERISA Risk

Another week, another Adams v. Goliath story in the world of ERISA litigation—and this time, Goliath is Cigna. The company is now facing its second lawsuit in as many months over how it handled forfeitures in its $13 billion...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Josh Itzoe Launches Fiduciary U: A New Era in 401(k) Committee Education

Let me be honest: most fiduciary training out there is about as exciting as watching paint dry in a compliance office. It’s often a checkbox exercise—generic, outdated, and completely divorced from the real-world problems...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - July 2025

Saul Ewing LLP on

This month’s Friday Five explores recent ERISA disability benefit decisions involving key issues such as when attorney’s fees should be decided and factors used in determining venue transfer. It also explores retroactive...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Florida District Court Declines to Expand ERISA Disclosure Requirements

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A Florida district court recently gave TECO Energy, Inc. another victory in an ERISA case when it dismissed Plaintiff’s proposed class action with prejudice. Roche v. Teco Energy, Inc., No. 8:23-cv-01571, 2025 U.S. Dist....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

UBS Faces Forfeiture Lawsuit

UBS has found itself the latest target in the growing wave of ERISA litigation surrounding the handling of forfeitures in 401(k) plans. In Czakoczi v. UBS AG et al., filed in the District of New Jersey, the allegations mirror...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

First Circuit Concludes Employee’s Wrongful Termination, Other State Law Claims are Preempted by Federal Law

Foley & Lardner LLP on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (covering Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island) recently awarded a victory to employers litigating claims “related to” certain employer-sponsored...more

King & Spalding

Appeals Court Revives Company’s Suit against Blue Cross for Breach of ERISA Fiduciary Duty

King & Spalding on

On May 21, 2025, the Sixth Circuit revived a company’s lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) for breaching its fiduciary duties under ERISA as a third-party administrator (TPA). The plaintiff company,...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Excessive Fee Case Against DENSO International

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The Sixth Circuit recently granted an employer win in an ERISA excessive fee case when it affirmed the dismissal of a proposed class action brought by current and former employees of DENSO International America, Inc., a...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - June 2025

Saul Ewing LLP on

This month’s Friday Five examines recent court rulings on both short- and long-term disability benefits, focusing on key interpretations—including how "earnings" are defined under an employer’s plan....more

Holland & Knight LLP

Sixth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of ERISA Healthcare Fee Suit Against Third-Party Administrator

Holland & Knight LLP on

There has been a recent rise in Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) litigation against third-party administrators (TPAs) and other service providers challenging their management of self-funded health...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

What Relief Does the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act Nonenforcement Policy Actually Provide to Employers?

Employers navigating the complexities of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ("MHPAEA") may find themselves questioning the true impact of the federal government's recently issued nonenforcement policy. This...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Northrop Grumman is target for another Schlicter case

If there’s a Mount Rushmore of ERISA class-action litigators, you better believe Jerry Schlichter’s face is carved into it—probably right next to a 408(b)(2) disclosure and a stack of mutual fund fee charts. And once again,...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Texas Federal Court Allows an ERISA Fiduciary Challenge Against Alleged "ESG Investing" Without Any ESG Funds

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On January 10, 2025, in Spence v. American Airlines, a federal district court in Texas ruled that American Airlines (the company) and the committee overseeing its 401(k) plans (the committee) breached their duty of loyalty...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

I’m an ERISA attorney, curb those inappropriate LinkedIn sales pitches

Look, I get it. There are a lot of lawyers out there. Ambulance chasers, courtroom showmen, legal eagles with late-night TV spots and suspiciously white teeth. But here’s the thing: I’m not one of them....more

Carlton Fields

Considerations for Plan Sponsors in the Wake of Cunningham v. Cornell

Carlton Fields on

Excessive fee cases against plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have been on the rise for the last decade. ERISA litigation is expanding with novel theories such as forfeiture litigation....more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Seventh Circuit Affirms that Employer’s Withdrawal Liability Cannot Be Based on Post-Rehabilitation Plan Contribution Increases

We recently reported on a district court decision holding that the Central States Pension Fund’s calculation of withdrawal liability should not have included contribution rate increases imposed after the Fund’s implementation...more

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