A class action alleging that BlackRock entities favored their own proprietary funds when selecting investment options for BlackRock’s 401(k) Plan is headed for trial after Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. denied both parties’ motions for summary judgment on January 12,
ERISA Litigation Advisor
News and Insights on the latest ERISA litigation trends for employers
The ERISA Litigation Advisor blog, published by Jackson Lewis P.C., focuses on legal developments and litigation trends related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). It covers topics such as fiduciary duties, excessive fee litigation, forfeiture disputes, health plan fee challenges, and prohibited transaction claims. The blog analyzes court decisions, circuit splits, and Supreme Court activity affecting ERISA class actions and fiduciary breach claims. It also addresses practical implications for plan sponsors and fiduciaries, including compliance strategies and risk management in retirement and health benefit plans.
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U.S. Supreme Court: State Law Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers is Not Preempted by ERISA
An Arkansas law regulating pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBMs) generic drug reimbursement rates, and affecting the cost of prescription drugs provided under ERISA-governed benefit plans and the administration of those plans, is not preempted by ERISA, the U.S. Supreme Court has…
U.S. Supreme Court to Take on Affordable Care Act … Again
This term, the U.S. Supreme Court returns to a challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the consolidated cases of California v. Texas (No. 19-840) and Texas v. California (No. 19-1019), the Court will consider whether a group of states and private individuals…
Supreme Court to Consider Appealability of Railroad Retirement Board Decisions
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the second of several ERISA disputes this term, the first issue we discussed as the term began, October 5, 2020. Monday, November 2, 2020, the Justices will consider whether the Railroad Retirement Board’s denial…
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear the First of Several ERISA Disputes This Term
The Supreme Court, whose new term begins today, the first Monday in October, will consider a number of cases impacting employee benefits and benefits litigation. This is the first in a series analyzing these cases as they are heard by…
Is Personal Information of Retirement Plan Participants an ERISA Plan Asset?
A little more than one year ago, we reported on a settlement (Cassell et al. v. Vanderbilt University, et al.) involving the alleged wrongful use of personal information belonging to retirement plan participants, claimed to be “plan assets.” This year,…
Eighth Circuit Affirms in Part, Reverses in Part University’s Early Win in ERISA Fee Suit
As the circuit courts continue to define the pleading standards for fiduciary breach claims challenging investments in defined contribution plans, the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s finding that a group of 403(b) plan…
Supreme Court: Plaintiffs Who Suffered No Injury Lack Standing to Sue under ERISA
The plaintiffs’ expectations surely suffered a blow after reading the Supreme Court’s initial observation in their case: “If [the plaintiffs] were to lose this lawsuit, they would still receive the exact same monthly benefits that they are already slated to receive, not…
Eighth Circuit Rules on ERISA’s “Church Plan” Exemption
Background
On March 27, 2020, the Eighth Circuit in Sanzone v. Mercy Health, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 9537 (8th Cir. March 27, 2020), ruled on several key issues on the “church plan” exemption to ERISA. As background, beginning in 2013, plaintiff’s counsel filed…
COBRA Notice Litigation: Cases Are Mushrooming and Settlements Are, Too
Imagine something as simple as a COBRA notice that complies with law, but is not identical to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) model notice, leading to six- or seven-figure class action litigation settlements?
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