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Fiduciary Duty Employee Benefits Corporate Counsel

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

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

Fisher Phillips

Federal Appeals Court Decision Reminds Employers About Their Duty to Monitor Service Providers of ERISA-Covered Health and Welfare...

Fisher Phillips on

A federal appeals court just illustrated the importance of an employer’s duty to monitor service providers that assist with the administration of employee welfare benefit plans. In the May 21 decision of Tiara Yachts v. Blue...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

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Every Little Thing … Employer Considerations as New 401(k) Lawsuit Includes Extensive Claims

by Alex Smith A recently filed lawsuit related to Swiss Re’s 401(k) plan stands out because of the extensive assortment of allegations...more

Snell & Wilmer

Five Things to Know about the DOL’s New VFCP Self-Correction Feature Taking Effect Next Week

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By Amberlee Lapointe On January 14, 2025, the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) released updates to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (“VFCP”), along with a News Release and Fact Sheet...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Retirement Plan Update – Forfeitures are New Focus of Fiduciary Breach Litigation

Many employer-sponsored defined contributions plans, including 401(k) profit sharing plans and money purchase pension plans include a vesting schedule – a period over which a plan participant earns a nonforfeitable right to...more

A&O Shearman

ESG Investing Takes A Blow In Texas Federal Court

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On January 10, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled, following a four-day bench trial, that an airline breached ERISA fiduciary duties when investing...more

Williams Mullen

Annual Employee Benefits Compliance Checklists - Corporate Counsel

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The following checklist highlights key issues for corporate counsel with respect to employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements....more

Nossaman LLP

Relying on Loper, Fifth Circuit Sends Chevron-based decision Back to District Court, calling ESG Rule into Question

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On July 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) vacated a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (“District Court”) that upheld the U.S. Department of Labor’s...more

ArentFox Schiff

Airline 401k Decision Illustrates Continued Takeoff of ESG Litigation

ArentFox Schiff on

A Texas federal judge recently permitted an environmental, social, and governance- (ESG) related Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case filed by an airline pilot against his employer and its benefits plan to...more

Morgan Lewis

The ESG Investing Debate: 2023 Year-end Updates

Morgan Lewis on

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has been subject to increased US state and federal regulation over the last several years, and 2023 continued that status quo. As of January 1, 2024, 20 states have...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Takeaways from a Recent COBRA Notice Class Action Settlement

Recent years have seen a barrage of class action lawsuits alleging that group health plan continuation coverage election notices, required under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), are deficient in one...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

ERISA Litigation Roundup: Seventh Circuit Sets Forth Pleading Standard in ERISA Duty of Prudence Claims in Hughes v. Northwestern...

On March 23, 2023, the Seventh Circuit issued a long-awaited decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, the case remanded from the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision of the same name. See Hughes v. Northwestern University, 142...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

ERISA Case Signals New Theories for Plaintiffs’ Bar

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: After focusing most of its attention on retirement benefit plans, a recent complaint filed in the District of Connecticut shows that the plaintiffs’ bar is turning to health and welfare plans as targets for...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Tenth Circuit Holds Arbitration Provision in ERISA Plan Document Unenforceable

Troutman Pepper Locke on

Recently, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held an arbitration provision impermissibly blocked rights afforded to a retirement plan participant under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and was therefore...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

DOL Final Rule on ESG Factors to Take Effect February 1, 2023

Latham & Watkins LLP on

The Final Rule clarifies the application of ERISA’s fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty to the selection of plan investments that incorporate ESG goals. On November 22, 2022, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released a...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Failure to Identify Sound Comparisons Sinks ERISA Fee, Investment Claims in Eighth Circuit

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Plaintiffs must plead a “sound basis for comparison—a meaningful benchmark” — to sustain their claims of imprudent investment and excessive fee against a 401(k) plan, the federal appeals court in St. Louis has held,...more

Fisher Phillips

Reducing Your 401(k) Litigation Risks – 10 Questions Employers Need to Ask ASAP

Fisher Phillips on

Here’s the scenario: Your company has had a 401(k) plan for the past 25 years. Employees appreciate the retirement benefit, and it seems to be operating well with very few questions or concerns from your employees. You’re...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

In ERISA Excessive Fee Cases, the Pendulum May Be Swinging Back In Favor of Plan Sponsors

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A new decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in a so-called “excessive fee” case is good news for plan sponsors, particularly following the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year in Hughes v....more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

ERISA Litigation Roundup: In the Aftermath of Hughes, Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Excessive Fee Lawsuit

On August 29, 2022, the Seventh Circuit decided Albert v. Oshkosh Corporation, affirming a district court’s dismissal of breach of fiduciary claims related to Oshkosh Corporation’s management of its 401(k) plan, and striking...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

DOL Cybersecurity Investigations: The Trap Door to Endless Document Requests?

Parties involved in a Department of Labor (“DOL”) Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) investigation often ask a simple question: how much information am I obligated to provide the DOL in response to an...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Between A Rock and A Hard Place... ESG Investments in 401(k) Plan Line-Ups

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The ever evolving landscape of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and 401(k) plan investment options may have just become even more complicated....more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Sixth Circuit Rejects Arbitration for Proposed Fiduciary Breach Class Action

The Sixth Circuit, in a matter of first impression for that Circuit, held an arbitration clause contained in an individual employment agreement did not apply to ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought on behalf of a defined...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

ERISA Litigation Roundup: Ninth Circuit Partially Reverses Dismissal of Two Proposed Class Actions

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit partially reversed the dismissal of two proposed class actions alleging mismanagement of separate 401(k) plans in violation of ERISA. In Davis v. Salesforce.com, Inc., 2022 WL...more

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