The federal courts were quite busy this week, despite the MLK Day holiday, issuing numerous rulings on procedural and substantive issues across the ERISA spectrum. No one case stood out, but there is something for almost everyone in the cases
Nevada Resort Ass’n-Int’l Alliance of Theatrical Stage Emps. & Moving Picture Mach. Operators of the US & Canada Loc. 720 Pension Tr. v. JB Viva Vegas, LP, No. 24-2791, __ F.4th __, 2026 WL 32577 (9th Cir. Jan. 6,
Walker Specialty Constr., Inc. v. Board of Trs. of Constr. Indus. & Laborers Joint Pension Tr. for S. Nevada, No. 24-1560, __ F.4th __, 2026 WL 21743 (9th Cir. Jan. 5, 2026) (Before Circuit Judges Rawlinson, Miller, and Desai)
As expected, the last week of 2025 was a slow one in the federal courts, but there were some interesting ERISA cases nonetheless. Read on to learn about (1) yet another dismissal of a putative class action alleging fiduciary breaches
Happy holidays to all our readers! It was a busy week in the federal courts, and as a result our gift to you is not just one, but two, cases of the week. Even better, both are published appellate decisions
Gasper v. EIDP, Inc., No. 24-1959, __ F.4th __, 2025 WL 3510832 (4th Cir. Dec. 8, 2025) (Before Circuit Judges Benjamin, Berner, and Keenan)
ERISA famously has an “anti-alienation” provision which prohibits pension plan participants from assigning their benefits
Patterson v. UnitedHealth Grp., Inc., No. 25-3175, __ F.4th __, 2025 WL 3458953 (6th Cir. Dec. 2, 2025) (Before Circuit Judges Siler, Nalbandian, and Readler).
For regular readers, our case of the week might look eerily familiar. In August
‘Twas another slow week in ERISAland, as the federal courts put aside breaches of fiduciary duty for turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Nevertheless, some judges were devoted enough to delve into ERISA’s intricacies. Read on to find out about (1)
Johnson v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., No. 23-13443, __ F.4th __, 2025 WL 3251015 (11th Cir. Nov. 21, 2025) (Before Circuit Judges William Pryor, Grant, and Kidd)
Your ERISA Watch would like to take this opportunity to wish
This week we are reporting on twice as many cases as last week, which sounds like a lot! Unfortunately, there were only three cases in last week’s edition, so suddenly it’s not so impressive. Apparently, the federal courts are still