ERISA does not preempt everything, as illustrated by a recent case decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. There, Wilmington Trust was forced to settle an ERISA case after a Court found that it breached its ERISA fiduciary...
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...
Courts have increasingly been asked to determine whether arbitration agreements executed by employees apply to claims under ERISA. In Cooper v. DST Systems, Inc., the Second Circuit just held that an employer’s breach of fiduciary duty claims alleging poor management of a 401(k) Plan’s assets...
Giant 401(k) service providers like Fidelity have an array of products and fees. Under ERISA’s fiduciary standards, this network of fees and costs have historically given rise to allegations that Fidelity was a fiduciary. Historically, providers like Fidelity have often—but not always—been able to defeat...
Suits alleging that defined benefit plan sponsors failed to update mortality tables used to determine whether alternative plan benefit options are the “actuarial equivalent” of the single life benefit have been proceeding rapidly. Just days ago, one of the targets of these actuarial equivalence lawsuits...
In their search for above-market returns, 401(k) Plan fiduciaries may be tempted to look for alternative investment options to the traditional mutual funds and collective trusts that largely dominate 401(k) Plan investments—options such as hedge funds and private equity. Fear of lawsuits might hamper adoption...
The initial critical inquiry in any ERISA fiduciary breach case is whether the defendant is an ERISA fiduciary—often a very complex inquiry. In Central Valley Ag Cooperative v. Daniel Leonard et al., the Eighth Circuit rejected claims against two service provides to an ERISA group...
A California federal court recently dismissed an ERISA class action claiming that the investment options in Intel Corp.’s 401(k) plan were too expensive and unperformed. In reaching that decision, the court followed a framework set forth by the Eighth Circuit in Meiners v. Wells Fargo...
A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Fleming v. Rollins, Inc., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 227697 (N.D. Ga. Nov. 23, 2020) highlights the disagreement among courts about the scope of ERISA’s requirement that participants exhaust their ERISA...
In a unanimous 8-0 decision (with Justice Barret not participating), the U.S. Supreme Court once again entered the thicket of ERISA preemption in Rutledge v. Pharm. Care Mgmt. Ass’n, No. 18-540, 2020 U.S. LEXIS 5988 (Dec. 10, 2020). The Court held that ERISA preempts an...
On December 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule on pension plan fiduciaries’ responsibilities with respect to proxy voting and other shareholder rights. In general, the rule makes clear that fiduciaries are not required to respond to all proxy votes, but...
On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule (amending 29 CFR § 2550.404a-1) addressing when pension plan fiduciaries can consider non-pecuniary factors—such as social or environmental benefits of certain investments—when making investment decisions. This rule should help resolve an area...
The Supreme Court’s standing decision in Thole v. U.S. Bank N.A., 140 S. Ct. 1615 (2020) continues to have consequences in the lower courts. Applying Thole, a New York federal court recently dismissed a putative class action because the health plan in question was overfunded,...
In one of a growing number of cases involving cybertheft of 401(k) plan assets, a federal judge allowed ERISA claims to proceed against a third-party plan administrator, but dismissed the claims against the plan sponsor. The plaintiff alleged that an imposter obtained her password, logged...
The U.S. District for the District of Minnesota has denied class certification to putative classes of ERISA plan participants challenging rising EpiPen prices. The participants alleged that four of the largest pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) owned and breached ERISA fiduciary duties to health plan participants...
On June 29, 2020, the IRS issued guidance that gives some relief to plan sponsors that amend their safe harbor Section 401(k) or 401(m) plans mid-year to reduce employer safe harbor matching/nonelective contributions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IRS notice can be found here.
An interesting twist today in 401(k) fee litigation—an employer filed a lawsuit against the fiduciaries of its own 401(k) plan. McCaffree Financial Corp. is a participating employer in the ADP TotalSource Retirement Savings Plan—a multiemployer plan sponsored by Total Source. McCaffree alleges (on behalf of...
Andrew HollyAndrew represents clients in a wide range of complex civil matters.
Nick BullardNick is a trial associate 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...
Lincoln LoehrkeLincoln helps clients successfully resolve complex disputes invol...
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