In Lawson v. Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the forfeiture of certain stock awards for violating a covenant not to compete. Like the Seventh Circuit in LKQ Corp. v. Rutledge(which
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Blog
The View from Proskauer on Developments in the World of Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation & ERISA Litigation
Latest from Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Blog
Departments Press Pause on Final Mental Health Parity Regulations
Yesterday, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services announced a non-enforcement policy with respect to final regulations issued under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) in September 2024. The Departments recently indicated…
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 case is Consumers Concrete…
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 of a rehabilitation plan. In Central States, S.E. &…
Supreme Court Establishes Lower Pleading Standard for Prohibited Transaction Claims
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Cunningham v. Cornell University that plaintiffs can satisfy the requirements for pleading prohibited party-in interest transactions under ERISA section 406(a) without alleging facts disproving the availability of a statutory exemption…
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 had been dissolved…
A Trap for the Unwary – Nonprofit Organization Compensation Arrangement Considerations for High Caliber Executives
Like any for-profit company, nonprofit organizations want to attract and retain high caliber executives to achieve and further their missions. To accomplish this, a nonprofit organization may have to offer a particularly robust compensation arrangement to the executive, especially because…
EBSA Releases Long-Awaited Update to Model Annual Funding Notices Reflecting SECURE 2.0 Changes
Following up on our recent blog post, SECURE 2.0’s Required Changes to Annual Funding Notice Become Effective in 2025, the Department of Labor released Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-02 on April 3, which addresses compliance questions regarding the required changes…
New “Self-Correction” Option for Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Starts March 17, 2025
Starting March 17, 2025, the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (“VFCP”) will have a “self-correction” option. Although the new option eliminates the need to wait for formal approval of a correction submission, participating fiduciaries will still need…
Eleventh Circuit Confirms Foreign Tax Credits Owned by Insurance Company Not “Plan Assets” of 401(k) Plan Under ERISA
In late October 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in Romano v. Hancock Life Insurance Company, F.4th 729 (11th Cir. 2024) that certain foreign tax credits that were generated as a result of 401(k)…