Benefits

  • December 19, 2024

    DuPont, Corteva Liable For Bad Benefits Info, Judge Says

    Chemical companies DuPont and Corteva Inc. violated federal benefits law when they cut hundreds of workers off from retirement benefits following a merger and subsequent spinoff, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, finding the companies didn't clearly explain how the transactions would impact employees' benefits.

  • December 19, 2024

    Chicago Hospital Network Strikes Deal In 401(k) Fee Suit

    A Chicago-area hospital system has agreed to settle a former worker's proposed class action claiming it failed to secure lower recordkeeping fees for its $1.8 billion retirement plan even when its peers were able to land better deals.

  • December 19, 2024

    Amazon Gets 'Wide Berth' Of Discovery In Drivers' Wage Suit

    A Washington federal judge largely granted Amazon's discovery request in an 8-year-old lawsuit brought by delivery drivers accusing the company of misclassifying them as independent contractors, saying the data it seeks is reasonable for its forthcoming challenge to the workers' class certification bid.

  • December 19, 2024

    X Workers Say Entire Severance Suit Should Survive

    Former X employees urged a Delaware federal court to set aside portions of a magistrate judge's recommendation that the court partially toss their unpaid severance benefits lawsuit, saying the judge incorrectly found that a merger agreement stripped them of standing.

  • December 18, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: McDermott's Paul Hughes

    Paul W. Hughes of McDermott Will & Emery LLP knows U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments are unpredictable — you can end up as the butt of a justice's joke or have the whole bench fully embrace your novel legal theory — so he focuses on what he can control: being overprepared for any version of the court he meets.

  • December 18, 2024

    Pilgrim's Pride Gets Chicken Exit OK Under Contested Deal

    Pilgrim's Pride is able to formally duck Sysco chicken price-fixing claims picked up by a Burford Capital LLC unit after an Illinois federal judge once again ruled that the companies are bound by a settlement between Pilgrim's Pride and Sysco that the litigation funding giant contested as too small.

  • December 18, 2024

    Defunct Media Co. Staffers Nab Class Status In WARN Act Suit

    Workers at former digital media startup The Messenger who allege they were unlawfully terminated without advance notice can proceed as a group with their lawsuit, a New York federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the company's arguments about the size of its workforce didn't hinder class certification.

  • December 18, 2024

    Benefits Orgs. Back AT&T In Suit Over Pension Risk Transfers

    A trio of retirement benefits organizations urged a Massachusetts federal judge to toss a suit claiming AT&T violated federal benefits law by offloading $8 billion in pension obligations into risky annuities, arguing that the case is a cash grab based on speculative claims.

  • December 18, 2024

    IRS Pushes Some Retirement Plan Min. Distributions To 2026

    The Internal Revenue Service updated the effective date to January 2026 — instead of next year — for when some must start to withdraw the required minimum amount of funds from several types of individual retirement accounts that were amended by a December 2022 retirement savings law. 

  • December 18, 2024

    Justices Will Decide If Medicaid Recipients Can Pick Providers

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday partially granted the state of South Carolina's petition to review a Fourth Circuit decision blocking its Medicaid program from ending its provider agreement with Planned Parenthood, agreeing to determine if the Medicaid Act allows a beneficiary to choose a specific provider. 

  • December 17, 2024

    Alcohol Co. Sued Over Biz Hangover After COVID Lockdowns

    Alcoholic beverage manufacturer MGP Ingredients Inc. has been hit with a proposed investor class action alleging the company misled the public about the continued success of its business following its exponential growth during the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns.

  • December 17, 2024

    Express Scripts, OptumRx Can't Ditch LA County Opioid Suit

    A California judge ruled Tuesday that Los Angeles County can keep pursuing a lawsuit claiming pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts and OptumRx colluded with drugmakers to fuel the opioid epidemic, though the county must rework its complaint to specify how regulators were allegedly deceived.

  • December 17, 2024

    Los Angeles Can't Dodge Ex-Cop's Military Leave Bias Suit

    A California federal judge declined to toss a former cop's suit claiming Los Angeles didn't grant equal sick and vacation time to service members and declined to promote him because he served in the National Guard, ruling he backed up his claims with enough detail to dodge dismissal.

  • December 17, 2024

    SEC Says Express Didn't Disclose $1M In Ex-CEO Perks

    Express Inc. failed to disclose nearly $1 million worth of perks and personal benefits to former CEO Tim Baxter, according to a settlement released Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which declined to levy a civil penalty against the fashion retailer in light of its cooperation and remediation.

  • December 17, 2024

    X Can't Seal Corporate Info In $500M Severance Dispute

    A California federal judge refused Tuesday to allow X Corp. and Elon Musk to file under seal the company's corporate disclosure statement in a dispute over X's failure to adequately pay severance to former workers, saying there's no evidence that disclosing this information would harm the company.

  • December 17, 2024

    Drug Co. Investor Sues In Del. Over $140M Insider Windfall

    A pension fund investor in Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc. has sued Bain Capital Investors LLC and other alleged insiders of the company in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing them of lining up a secondary offering in the biopharmaceutical venture before disclosure of its planned sale to AbbVie.

  • December 17, 2024

    Asset Manager Gets 2½ Years For Role In $1.2B PDVSA Scheme

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sentenced an asset manager who pled guilty to participating in a $1.2 billion scheme to embezzle money from Venezuela's state-owned oil company to 2½ years in prison.

  • December 17, 2024

    Nevada Defeats DOJ Military Bias Suit Over Pension Credits

    A Nevada federal judge tossed the U.S. Department of Justice's suit claiming Nevada and its public employees' retirement system overcharged service members for pension credits, ruling that a law protecting troops' reemployment rights doesn't let service members beef up their retirement benefits at a discounted rate.

  • December 17, 2024

    4 Recent Policy Developments Benefits Attys Should Know

    A trio of federal agencies finalized new disclosure requirements for how health plans cover mental health treatments, states took steps to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the U.S. Department of Labor's investment advice regulations failed in court, and Congress passed legislation to make compliance with the Affordable Care Act easier. Here, Law360 looks back at four policy-related developments in the employee benefits field from the latter half of 2024.

  • December 17, 2024

    5th Circ. Preserves Feds' ACA Trans Health Policy

    The Fifth Circuit upended a Texas court decision that invalidated a federal agency interpretation of the Affordable Care Act's provision on nondiscrimination in healthcare, keeping intact federal policy that prohibits insurers from discriminating against individuals seeking treatment for gender dysphoria.

  • December 17, 2024

    Ex-Pol Can't Shake Fraud Rap Over Jury's Racial Makeup

    A Massachusetts federal judge denied a Vietnamese-American former state senator's bid to undo his conviction for unlawfully accepting unemployment assistance and filing a false tax return, rejecting claims that jury selection was tainted by "racial animus" on the part of prosecutors.

  • December 16, 2024

    Amazon Puts Speed Over Worker Safety, Sanders Report Says

    Amazon prioritizes speed and profit over warehouse workers' safety, and the company has ignored its own internal studies on how to improve workplace safety, according to a report Sen. Bernie Sanders has released that Amazon vehemently derided late Monday as an attempt to support a false "preconceived narrative."

  • December 16, 2024

    AME Church Inks $20M Deal In Retirement Fraud Suit

    The African Methodist Episcopal Church has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve a suit claiming it failed to step in when an employee embezzled $90 million from its retirement plan, according to a Tennessee federal court filing seeking an initial green light on the deal.

  • December 16, 2024

    Chemical Co. Retirees Agree To End 401(k) Fee Suit Appeal

    Chemical company retirees who accused their former employer of unlawfully loading their 401(k) plan with costly investment options ended their bid to revive a class action, with the Third Circuit signing off on the dismissal.

  • December 16, 2024

    The Biggest Massachusetts High Court Rulings Of 2024

    Massachusetts' highest court added two justices this year while taking up several novel legal issues, including one town's effort to phase out the sale of tobacco, a paralyzed Uber rider's fight against arbitration, and a dispute over whether a hospital website's use of tracking cookies violates the state wiretap statute.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Why Calif. Courts Are Split On ERISA Forfeited Contributions

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    A split between two California federal courts, in deciding whether an employer’s use of forfeited retirement plan contributions to offset future costs violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, suggests employers should soon expect more ERISA cases to advance this novel legal theory when making anti-inurement and breach of fiduciary duty claims, says Blake Crohan at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • American Airlines ESG Ruling Could Alter ERISA Landscape

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    The Spence v. American Airlines ESG trial, speeding toward a conclusion in a Texas federal court, could foretell a dramatic expansion in ERISA liability, with plan sponsors vulnerable to claims that they didn't foresee short-term dips in stock prices, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.

  • How To Comply With Chicago's New Paid Leave Ordinance

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    Chicago's new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance went into effect earlier this month, so employers subject to the new rules should update leave policies, train supervisors and deliver notice as they seek compliance, say Alison Crane and Sarah Gasperini at Jackson Lewis.

  • Dueling Calif. Rulings Offer Insight On 401(k) Forfeiture Suits

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    Two recent decisions from California federal courts regarding novel Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims around 401(k) forfeitures provide early tea leaves for companies that may face similar litigation, offering reasons for both optimism and concern over the future direction of the law, say Ashley Johnson and Jennafer Tryck at Gibson Dunn.

  • Loss Causation Ruling Departs From Usual Securities Cases

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    A California federal court recently dismissed Ramos v. Comerica, finding that the allegations failed to establish loss causation, but the reasoning is in tension with the pleading-stage approaches generally followed by both courts and economists in securities fraud litigation, say Jesse Jensen and Aasiya Glover at Bernstein Litowitz.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Accidental Death Ruling Shows ERISA Review Standard's Pull

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    The Eleventh Circuit’s recent accidental death insurance ruling in Goldfarb v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance illustrates how an arbitrary and capricious standard of review in Employee Retirement Income Security Act denial-of-benefits cases creates a steep uphill battle for benefit claimants, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

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