Just this month, the Ninth Circuit revisited the relationship between ERISA and Article III constitutional standing, recently addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Thole v. U.S. Bank, 140 S. Ct. 1615. In Winsor v. Sequoia Benefits & Ins. Servs., LLC, the Ninth Circuit held...
A federal court in Wisconsin recently allowed a putative ERISA class action in Lucero v. Credit Union Ret. Plan Ass’n to proceed to discovery on the claim that a 401(k) plan paid excessive recordkeeping fees. This decision highlights an important trend in ERISA litigation. Lucero...
While social distancing restrictions associated with COVID-19 are on the wane, lawsuits seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 testing are on the rise. The issue is whether federal legislation passed at the onset of the Pandemic allows out-of-network test providers essentially to name their price for the...
The Ninth Circuit just reversed decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Wit v. United Behavioral Health, which had ordered United Behavioral Health (“UBH”) to reprocess thousands of claims for behavioral and mental health treatment. Wit is an ERISA...
Yet another battle in the actuarial equivalence fight has just been resolved—and is immediately headed for appellate review. In Belknap v. Partners Healthcare System, Inc., the Plaintiff argued that the annuity payment he received from his plan was not the “actuarial equivalent” of the single...
Early reports suggested that a pension fund for Kentucky teachers lost approximately $13 million invested in Sberbank, one of Russia’s largest banks. The pension plan quickly refuted these stories, reporting that the plan sold its interests on Feb. 23, the day before Russia invaded Ukraine...
Just this month, the Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in Northwestern University, the first time the Court has been called upon to examine a lawsuit alleging that a 401(k) plan’s investment and fees were mismanaged. Although a narrow decision, the case was a...
Since the first round of cases were filed in 2006, plaintiffs’ counsel have raised hundreds of lawsuits challenging the prudence of fees and investments in 401(k) plans. One of the critical issues in those cases is what needs to be included in a complaint to...
Lawsuits by out-of-network medical providers against ERISA plans and their third party administrators rank as one of the most common ERISA-type cases being raised these days. In these cases, out-of-network medical providers purport to provide services to patients—often substance use or mental health treatments—and then...
Fiduciaries are not guarantors of an investment’s success. Rather, all they are asked to do is be diligent, prudent, and loyal in managing an investment’s success—the ultimate success or failure of the investment does not determine whether a fiduciary has properly complied with their duties. ...
Regular followers of ERISA litigation know that the so-called 401(k)/403(b) “fee” cases have dominated the ERISA litigation space ever since the first tranche was filed in 2006. Literally hundreds of cases have been filed against defined contribution plan fiduciaries, resulting in the payment of billions...
Vanilla ERISA claims seeking plan benefits may well be the most common lawsuit encountered by federal judges. Even so, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not expressly contemplate how these ERISA claims for benefits—with their unique limits on discovery and discretionary standard of review...
The United States Supreme Court’s constitutional standing decision in Thole continues to reverberate throughout ERISA litigation. In Scott v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota dismissed challenges to United’s cross-plan offsetting practices because the plaintiffs, plan participants, themselves...
In Negron v. Cigna Health and Life Ins., the Plaintiffs alleged that CIGNA misinterpreted their standardized group health plans and caused pharmacies to charge participants with higher copays than was proper. Plaintiffs sought to certify a class of all participants in the various group health...
Under ERISA, group health plans are legal entities that can sue and be sued. Often overlooked, these plans have the ability to raise lawsuits under not only ERISA, but state law, antitrust, and other legal theories. On May 11, the United States District Court for...
After a long, tortured procedural history, Principal Life Insurance Co. won a court trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The case was initially dismissed in an early procedural motion, but then revived by the Eighth Circuit Court of...
ESOPs and so-called “company stock funds” are designed to hold the stock of the sponsoring employer. They are designed by their nature to be undiversified, and ERISA exempts them from any contrary obligation. Still, ERISA’s fiduciary duties still apply to those who administer and manage...
ERISA Section 102 requires employers to provide accurate and comprehensive information about plan benefits to participants through a summary plan description (and its updates). A group of participants in Detroit Edison’s defined benefit plan sued alleging that the employer failed to accurately describe the consequences...
Andrew HollyAndrew represents clients in a wide range of complex civil matters.
Nick BullardNick is a trial partner in Dorsey’s office in Minneapolis. ...
Tim ArendsChair of the Benefits and Compensation practice group, Tim devot...
Shannon BjorklundShannon provides advice and litigation assistance to companies...
Tim GoodmanTim Goodman works with employers on medical plans, retirement pl...
Paul HeiringIn addition to litigating a broad range of ERISA cases, Paul Hei...
Alan IversonAlan is a litigator in Dorsey’s trial group with a focus on cli...
Stephen P. LuckeSteve represents businesses, employers, insurers, and fiduciarie...
Melinda MaherMelinda is a Partner in the Benefits & Compensation practice group....
Marianne O'BaraMarianne works regularly with numerous non-U.S. companies and t...
Kirsten SchubertKirsten helps clients large and small navigate all aspects of com...
Michael VovesEmployee Benefits, Minneapolis
