News & Analysis as of

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Employer Liability Issues

Verrill

Coming Soon to Your 401(k) Plan: Tontines and Other Exotic Investments!

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Participants in 401(k) plans and other defined contribution retirement plans may soon have the opportunity to invest their plan accounts in a variety of high-risk and potentially high-return assets. Touted as an effort to...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Even If You’re Right, You Can Still Get Sued

There’s a hard truth about being a plan sponsor or a plan provider: you can be doing everything right and still get sued. That’s the world we live in—especially in the retirement plan space. You can dot every “i,” cross every...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Department of Labor Weighs in on 401(k) Forfeiture Class Actions

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Since September 2023, plaintiffs have filed numerous class action lawsuits alleging that the use of 401(k) forfeitures to offset future employer contributions violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974...more

Verrill

Orabona v. Santander: The Importance of ERISA Status for Severance Plans

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Severance plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) must satisfy certain compliance requirements, but federal law affords employers significant advantages in the event a...more

Gould + Ratner LLP

SCOTUS: ADA Doesn’t Extend to Retired Employees

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The United States Supreme Court has determined that the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) does not extend to discrimination claims from retired employees. In an 8–1 decision issued on June 20, 2025, the Court held that...more

Verrill

Do We Have to Make It a Top Hat Plan?

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Employers and their compensation advisors often assume that an arrangement to pay employees in the future for work done over time will be subject to the rules for ERISA pension plans unless it is limited to a “select group of...more

Verrill

Preparing for “Untoward Practical Results”—Implications and Action Items for ERISA Attorneys Following Cunningham v. Cornell...

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision Cunningham v. Cornell University, 145 S.Ct. 1020 (2025) significantly lowers the pleading standard for prohibited transaction claims under Section 406(a) of the Employee Retirement...more

Fisher Phillips

Workplace Law Update: 10 Essential Items on Your July To-Do List

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law, especially since the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace. To ensure you stay on top of the latest changes and have an action plan for...more

Hall Benefits Law

PBM Contracts Could Expose Plan Sponsors to Fiduciary Liability

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A plan sponsor’s fiduciary duty to be transparent in Pharmacy Benefit Manager contracts safeguards plan participants’ interests and mitigates the risk of litigation, regulatory penalties, and reputational harm, say Hall...more

Littler

The Parity Paradox: MHPAEA Compliance for Employers and Insurers During the 2024 Enforcement Pause

Littler on

The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury have announced that they will pause enforcement of the 2024 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) Final Rule (the “2024 Final Rule”) for...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Withdrawal Liability Collection Scope Expanded

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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...

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

Carlton Fields

Faulty COBRA Notices Can Cost Big Bucks

Carlton Fields on

When COBRA cases survive motions to dismiss, big dollars are at stake. Marrow v. E.R. Carpenter Co., No. 8:23-cv-02959, is a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on behalf...more

Littler

Seventh Circuit Places Limits on Employers’ Withdrawal Liability from Certain Multiemployer Plans

Littler on

On April 24, 2025, the Seventh Circuit upheld a Northern District of Illinois decision requiring a multiemployer pension plan to exclude the employers’ post-2014 rehabilitation plan contribution rate increases from the...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Special Report: Examining Group Health Coverage Alternatives for Small Employers - Update

Originally published in February 2025, this updated report provides new material on physician practice management (PPM) arrangements, reference-based pricing arrangements, minimum essential coverage (MEC) and MEC+ plans, and...more

A&O Shearman

Supreme Court’s Cornell decision sets low pleading bar for ERISA claims

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In a decision poised to change the landscape of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) litigation, on April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court held in Cunningham et al. v. Cornell University et al. that a claimant...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

Maynard Nexsen

JPMorgan Sued Over Management of Prescription Drug Benefits

Maynard Nexsen on

On March 13, 2025, several current and former participants in the JPMorgan Chase Health Care and Insurance Program for Active Employees, as well as its component Medical Plan (collectively referred to as the “Plan”) filed a...more

Verrill

Does ERISA Work?

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On Labor Day, September 2, 1974, Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) into law. ERISA governs the employee benefit plans (i.e., retirement and welfare plans) of most private employers in...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Excessive Fee Cases: Not Just for Retirement Plans Anymore

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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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Clorox forfeiture case goes forward

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has decided not to dismiss a class action lawsuit against The Clorox Company and the employee benefits committee of The Clorox Company 401(k) Plan. The lawsuit...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

2025 Perspectives in Private Equity: Employment Matters

Employment-related policies are undergoing rapid change, with regulatory shifts impacting the enforceability of non-competes, evolving unionization dynamics, and a growing focus on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)....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

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Things I Worry About (8): DOL Investigations and Unsuspecting Plan Sponsors (2)

As explained in my last post, Things I Worry About (7), the DOL’s EBSA has a number of programs that can restore benefits to plans and participants. Those include: - Civil investigations. - Criminal investigations. -...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

BREAKING: DOL Expands the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program

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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published in the Federal Register an updated version of the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) under Title I of ERISA. Per the DOL, VFCP “is designed to encourage...more

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