News & Analysis as of

Fiduciary Duty Employment Litigation

JAMS

[PODCAST] Evolving Challenges in Employment Mediation: Managing Emotions, Shifting Strategies and Legal Trends

JAMS on

The Mediation Table: Conversations in Conflict Resolution - Employment mediation continues to evolve—driven by rising emotional complexity, changing workplace dynamics and new legal challenges. In this podcast episode, JAMS...more

Stikeman Elliott LLP

Commu(nica)ted Value: The Québec Superior Court Provides Guidance to Pension Plan Administrators and Employers

Stikeman Elliott LLP on

A recent Québec Superior Court decision (Bernard c. Association de bienfaisance et de retraite des policiers et policières de la Ville de Montréal (“Bernard”)) highlights the importance of clear communications with pension...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

United Health is latest 401(k) forfeiture lawsuit

UnitedHealth Group is the latest big-name employer to get hit with a class action lawsuit over how it handles 401(k) forfeitures. The case, Kotalik et al. v. UnitedHealth Group Inc., accuses the company and its plan...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb – May Employment Appellate Roundup

Littler on

Fourth Circuit Dismisses White Employee’s Race, Gender, and Retaliation Claims - Barnhill v. Pamela Bondi, __ F.4th __ (4th Cir. May 15, 2025) involved claims by a white Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration...more

Williams Mullen

PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Forfeitures Under Fire

Williams Mullen on

On this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt unpacks the growing legal controversy surrounding the use of forfeitures in retirement plans. With numerous lawsuits recently filed, plan sponsors...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Wolfspeed, Durham-Based Semiconductor Producer, Fighting Financial Peril in the Market and Employee Exits in the Courts

Fox Rothschild LLP on

Wolfspeed, a Durham-based silicon carbide semiconductor business, has plenty on its plate these days amid media reports of an impending bankruptcy reorganization. While such a filing would be aimed at a short(ish) judicial...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - May 2025

The May Monthly Minute brings you up-to-date on mental health parity enforcement relief, as well as smoker surcharge and prohibited transaction litigation. Nonenforcement of 2024 Mental Health Parity Regulations - Earlier...more

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

What is an Improper Use of Forfeiture Case Worth? Intuit Settlement Provides Perspective

On Friday, May 16th, plaintiff’s counsel in the Rodriguez v. Intuit Inc. case filed a motion to support a settlement of $1,995,000.  The motion appears to reflect a good compromise between the parties … and as they say, a...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Do You Really Want to Be an ERISA Fiduciary?

Two recent class action lawsuits charging a breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have increased the stakes and raised important considerations regarding a plan fiduciary’s duty of...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - April 2025

The April Monthly Minute showers readers with some eye-opening case law updates, ranging from a $38.8M jury verdict in a 401(k) fee case, to a pair of cases involving Elevance (f/k/a Anthem) health plan coverage exclusions....more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Cunningham v. Cornell: Supreme Court Lowers Bar for ERISA 406(a) Claims

On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in Cunningham v. Cornell University that, to state a claim under ERISA section 406(a), plaintiffs need only allege the elements contained in section 406(a). Prior to the Supreme...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

One Court Permits Tobacco Premium Surcharge Claims to Proceed Beyond the Pleading Stage, While Dispositive Motions Remain Pending...

In fall 2024, plaintiffs filed a wave of putative class action lawsuits against employers challenging wellness programs that impose a health coverage premium surcharge on participants if they do use tobacco or do not complete...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

Goodwin

Supreme Court Decides Pleading Standard to Allege ERISA Prohibited-Transaction Claims, Favoring Plaintiffs

Goodwin on

Key takeaway: The Supreme Court held that to state an ERISA prohibited-transaction claim under 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a), a plaintiff needs only to plausibly allege the elements contained in § 1106(a) itself and does not need to...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Supreme Court Decides Cunningham v. Cornell University

On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007, holding that a plaintiff may state a prohibited-transaction claim in violation of ERISA § 406(a) without referencing the exemptions...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court Update - April 17, 2025

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

The Supreme Court of the United States issued one decision today: Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007: This case addresses the pleading standard to assert a claim under a provision of the Employee Retirement...more

Epstein Becker & Green

To Some, It’s About ERISA—to Everyone, It’s About Not Having to Plead Affirmative Defenses - SCOTUS Today

Epstein Becker & Green on

Notwithstanding its mounting backlog, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved only one case today, an unsurprising unanimous decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University....more

McGuireWoods LLP

Court Issues a Double-Barreled Rejection of Litigants’ Common Interest Doctrine Claims

McGuireWoods LLP on

The common interest doctrine can sometimes protect as privileged communications between separately represented clients. But litigants seeking the doctrine’s protection face many hurdles and often fail....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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

SwissRe participants sue company and Empower

Former employees of Swiss Re American Holding Corp. are suing the company and its recordkeeper, Empower, for breaching their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The plaintiffs allege...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

How to Protect Your ESOP from Lawsuits Over Cash Holdings

At least four lawsuits have recently been filed against employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) fiduciaries alleging a failure to prudently invest cash held in the ESOP trust. While scrutiny of investments in company stock has...more

A&O Shearman

Pensions in dispute - March 2025

A&O Shearman on

Welcome to our quarterly pensions litigation briefing, designed to help pensions managers identify key risks in scheme administration, and trustees update their knowledge and understanding. This briefing highlights recent...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

Key Update on WARN Act: Bankruptcy Court Limits Employer Liability in Mass Layoffs

The Federal Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to give workers 60 days’ written notice of a plant closing or mass termination. In the latest update to an important case interpreting the...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Tobacco Surcharge Lawsuits: Considerations for Plan Sponsors

A growing number of class action lawsuits have been filed against employer-sponsored self-insured group health plans alleging that tobacco cessation wellness programs violate key provisions of the Employee Retirement Income...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Northern District of California Dismisses 401(k) Forfeiture Suit with Prejudice

Holland & Knight LLP on

In Hutchins v. HP Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed – with prejudice – the plaintiff's claims challenging the use of forfeited employer 401(k) contributions. This is the latest...more

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