News & Analysis as of

Fiduciary Duty Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Breach of Duty

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

US Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Recordkeeping Fees Case Against Cornell University

In 2017, several private universities were hit with ERISA class actions alleging various breaches of fiduciary duty and prohibited transactions—including claims that these universities’ defined contribution plans charged...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Supreme Court Urged to Resolve Split on ERISA Standing Requirements in Excessive Fee Cases

Holland & Knight LLP on

Chavez v. Plan Benefit Services, Inc., 108 F.4th 297 (5th Cir. 2024), began when three employees of a single employer sued the service providers of their health and welfare benefit plan for allegedly charging excessive fees...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Sixth Circuit Again Invalidates ERISA Plan Arbitration Clause

The Sixth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s dismissal, and order requiring arbitration of, a proposed class action alleging fiduciary breaches in connection with the Kellogg Company 401(k) plan. Fleming v. Kellogg...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - October 2024

The October Monthly Minute highlights two recent retirement plan cases, one in which the court sides with the plan and emphasizes plan administrative review over specific investment results and another where plaintiffs are...more

Goodwin

Supreme Court Grants Review in ERISA Class Action Challenging Plan Sponsor’s Recordkeeping Arrangement

Goodwin on

Key takeaway: The Supreme Court granted certiorari to address the pleading standards for prohibited-transaction claims under 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a). On October 4, 2024, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cunningham v....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Johnson & Johnson Case Sparks Concerns Over Future Excessive Health Fee Litigation

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Recent scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers, also known as “PBMs,” has resulted in various lawsuits alleging that the high drug costs they charge violate ERISA. Among the first lawsuits in what appears to be a wave of new...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Thinking ESOPs: Supreme Court to Take Up ‘Prohibited Transactions’ and Burden of Proof Questions . . .

On October 4, 2024, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cunningham v. Cornell University. The case involves the standard for a plaintiff to plead a “prohibited transaction” claim under ERISA and the burden of proving...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

A Growing Trend: Fiduciary Secures Trial Victory in Excessive Fee Litigation

Introduction - On August 22, 2024, the Central District of California found in favor of the defendants after a bench trial on breach of fiduciary duty claims related to the monitoring of recordkeeping expenses and...more

Carlton Fields

Second Circuit Rejects Enforcement of Class Waiver and Arbitration Agreement Under FAA, Finds That Provisions Impermissibly...

Carlton Fields on

The plaintiff sued the trustee of his retirement plan, his former employer, and others for breach of fiduciary duties in connection with the plan’s purchase of shares of the employer’s parent company for more than fair market...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Massachusetts District Court Permits 403(b) Plan Fiduciary Breach Claims to Proceed

A federal district court in Massachusetts recently denied a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by plan participants in the Cape Cod Healthcare, Inc. 403(b) plan, which alleged that the plan’s fiduciaries breached their ERISA...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Eleventh Circuit Holds That Burden of Proof of Loss Causation is on Plaintiffs in ERISA Actions

In an August 2, 2024, decision in Pizarro v. The Home Depot, Inc., No. 22-13643 (11th Cir. Aug. 2, 2024), the Eleventh Circuit reaffirmed its position — and the position of the majority of federal circuit courts to address...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Eleventh Circuit Reiterates that Burden of Proving Loss Causation Stays with Plaintiffs

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the fiduciaries of the Home Depot 401(k) plan, who defended against claims that they breached their fiduciary...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Arkansas Court Declines to Dismiss Challenge to ESOP Releveraging Transaction

Holland & Knight LLP on

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

McAfee & Taft

Gavel to Gavel: Fiduciary committees offer shield against welfare plan litigation

McAfee & Taft on

Investment and administrative committees for employer-sponsored retirement plans have long been the gold standard for a company to carry out its fiduciary obligations to plan participants as required by the Employee...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Health Plan Hygiene Part 1: A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

During the next several weeks, we will publish a series of articles that dive deeply into “health plan hygiene” relating to health and welfare benefit plan fiduciary issues and how employers can protect themselves in this...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

District Court Dismisses Challenge to Use of Plan Forfeitures

A federal district court recently granted a motion to dismiss claims that defined contribution plan fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence, and violated ERISA’s anti-inurement and prohibited...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Stick to the (ERISA) Plan

The backbone of a fiduciary’s duties is the written plan document: understanding the key terms and adhering to them provides a bulwark against fiduciary breach. ERISA Sections 402(a)(1) and 404(a)(1)(d) require that every...more

Mayer Brown

Northern District of Texas Expands Fiduciary Exposure by Permitting ESG Proxy Voting Theory to Go to Trial

Mayer Brown on

Case Name and Number: Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00552 - INTRODUCTION - On June 20, 2024, Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas (the “court”) denied a motion for summary...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

TIAA needs to litigate cross-selling lawsuit

A lawsuit against TIAA’s cross-selling a managed account service will proceed after their motion to dismiss was denied by a federal district court judge in New York....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Use of Plan Forfeitures Not the Slam Dunk It Used to Be

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A recent rash of class action lawsuits in California claim that using forfeitures to reduce future employer contributions to tax-qualified retirement plans runs afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)....more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

ERISA Group Health Plans – The New Target in Fee Cases

Earlier this year, a Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) employee brought a class action complaint (the “Complaint”) against J&J alleging fiduciary breaches under ERISA related to the prescription drug coverage under J&J’s self-funded...more

Troutman Pepper

EDVA Judge Allows Pension Investment Expert to Testify in Class Action ERISA Case

Troutman Pepper on

A recent decision by Senior District Judge Robert Payne on a Daubert motion in class action litigation against a pension fund offers some helpful lessons on challenging expert witnesses in the EDVA. Trauernicht v. Genworth...more

Mintz

Federal Judge Certifies Class Objecting to ESG Investments by Retirement Fund

Mintz on

On May 22, 2024, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) ordered that the plaintiffs claiming that investment managers breached their fiduciary duty due to their ESG-focused investing be certified as a class for purposes of the...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Paychex sued over distribution checks

Paychex is fighting a lawsuit by a participant claiming their distribution check was stolen in New York state court....more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Five Things on the Department of Labor’s Radar for Employee Benefit Plans

Foley & Lardner LLP on

All qualified retirement plans are subject to a myriad of requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is charged with enforcing the...more

498 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 20

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide