The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued its written decision in Shipp v. Central States Manufacturing, Inc. on July 5, 2024, declining to dismiss the case against Central States Manufacturing Inc....more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its decision in Matney v. Barrick Gold of North America, et al. on Sept. 6, 2023, finding that participants in an employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plan...more
9/27/2023
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Benchmark Pricing ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Trust Companies ,
Pleading Standards ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Retirement Plan
In Plutzer v. Bankers Trust, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed dismissal by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York de novo; and emphasized that a plaintiff must allege concrete,...more
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, courts around the country continue to articulate the pleading requirements for a breach of duty of prudence claim under the Employee Retirement...more
9/23/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Colleges ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fees ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Management Fees ,
Plan Participants ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Transaction Fees ,
Universities
Courts around the country continue to approach the enforceability of class-action waivers and arbitration provisions in ERISA plan documents differently. This alert discusses recent decisions addressing these issues in ERISA...more
In Halperin v. Richards, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit considered whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempted certain state-law corporate liability claims against officers...more
8/24/2021
/ Breach of Duty ,
Business Valuations ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Liability ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary ,
Financial Adviser ,
Preemption ,
State Law Claims
Courts have struggled through the years when considering the enforceability of mandatory class action waivers and arbitration provisions contained within Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) plans and other...more
4/1/2021
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
ERISA Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Motion to Compel ,
Split of Authority ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has dismissed a putative class action lawsuit brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by a participant of 401(k) plan against the...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California entered summary judgment on July 6, 2020, in favor of defendants who sold stock to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and faced liability under the Employee...more
In an opinion issued in Smith v. Rockwell Automation, Inc., et al., No. 19-C-0505 (E.D. Wis.) on Feb. 10, 2020, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman denied Rockwell Automation's motion to dismiss a putative class action complaint...more
In a pair of opinions issued on Aug. 20, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit expressly overruled its 35-year precedent that Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) disputes were not arbitrable. The...more
8/27/2019
/ 401k ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Charles Schwab ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
NLRA ,
Plan Documents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirms a District Court's holding that Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. was not a fiduciary with respect to its stable value fund, even though it announced the fund's...more
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a U.S. District Court's application of deferential standard to the review of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) administrator's decision based on broad...more
9/5/2018
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Accrued Benefits ,
Appeals ,
Death Benefits ,
Denial of Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ESOP ,
Plan Administrators ,
Preemption ,
Standard of Review ,
Summary Judgment
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Munro v. University of Southern California concluded that an arbitration provision in individual employment contracts could not be used to compel...more
7/31/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Mismanagement ,
Plan Documents ,
Retirement Funds ,
Section 409A
• Although the Supreme Court's recent decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis was not a case under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Court's analysis indicates that it would likely reject an...more
5/24/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
ESOP ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Savings Clause ,
SCOTUS
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit's Aug. 25, 2016, decision in Allen v. GreatBanc Trust Co., No. 15-3569, made it the first court in a published opinion to expressly reject Fifth Third Bancorp v....more
9/20/2016
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Stock Purchase Plans ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Reversal ,
Special Circumstances Doctrine ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Stocks ,
Trustees