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
Multi-employer plan participants involved in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) class action lawsuit against Horizon Actuarial Services LLC (Horizon), a national retirement services firm, have entered...more
4/2/2024
/ Best Practices ,
Class Action ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Multi-Employer Pensions ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Plan Participants ,
Popular ,
Security and Privacy Controls ,
Security Risk Assessments ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Settlement
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its final rule on employee or independent contractor classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on Jan. 10, 2024. The final rule is effective March 11, 2024. It...more
As previously discussed, courts continue to disagree over the enforceability of mandatory arbitration provisions containing class action waivers set forth in benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security...more
11/9/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ESOP ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Split of Authority ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
Holland & Knight invites you to read our China Practice Newsletter, in which our authors discuss pertinent Sino-American topics. The firm provides legal assistance to Chinese investors and companies doing business or making...more
11/2/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Annual Reports ,
Biden Administration ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Investment ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infrastructure ,
Mergers ,
Stock Options
Consistent with its June 2022 announcement, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new proposed rule addressing the distinction between employees and independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more
Historically, courts around the country have approached the enforceability of class action waivers and arbitration provisions in ESOP and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) plan documents differently,...more
9/8/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Plan Documents ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Statutory Remedies
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition for certiorari in First Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company v. Giorgio Armani Corporation. Although the headlines typically come when the Supreme Court issues an opinion, its...more
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a stark warning to ERISA fiduciaries about offering cryptocurrencies and related products as potential investment options for plan participants. In Compliance Assistance Release No....more
In Hughes v. Northwestern University, current and former participants in Northwestern University's defined-contribution retirement plans filed litigation on behalf of the plans' participants asserting that the University, its...more
2/25/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Class Action ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
SCOTUS
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
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officially withdrew a Trump-era rule that had been announced to clarify independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The repeal took effect on May 6, 2021. The...more
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. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed on March 11, 2021, withdrawing the independent contractor and joint employer final rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The independent contractor final rule provides...more
3/25/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Public Comment ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
Carter v. Southwest Airlines Co. Board of Trustee, Case No. 8:20-cv-1381-WFJ-JSS (M.D. Fla.) was one of the latest cases in which a healthcare-plan beneficiary attempted to bring claims based upon alleged technical...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an issue of first impression, has answered a critical question in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime disputes: "Who has the burden of proof on whether bonuses are...more
In Bryant v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., three former Walmart employees moved to certify a class against the retailer, alleging that they were injured by Walmart's allegedly defective notices under the Employee Retirement Income...more
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
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently joined several other courts in finding that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) permits co-fiduciaries to assert counterclaims for...more
In Thole v. U.S. Bank, N.A., the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit's judgment that defined benefit plan participants lack standing to pursue claims of fiduciary...more
6/9/2020
/ Article III ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Investment Adviser ,
Mismanagement ,
Pensions ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Thole v U.S. Bank