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Mealey's ERISA

August 25, 2025
11th Circuit Skirts Exhaustion Issue, Won’t Revive Case Over NFL Disability Benefits

ATLANTA — Affirming dismissal on two alternate grounds without deciding whether the appellant exhausted his administrative remedies, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a per curiam Aug. 22 opinion declined to revive a former NFL player’s suit over total and permanent (T&P) disability benefits that he argued he should have been awarded under a 2006 application.
August 25, 2025
ERISA Forfeiture Developments Include 2 More Rulings Denying Dismissal

Just over two years after a wave of Employee Retirement Income Security Act suits challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions were filed, the case law is developing rapidly; although the majority of dismissal motions have been granted, federal judges in North Carolina and Florida recently denied dismissal in putative class cases filed against Bank of America Corp. (BOA) and NextEra Energy Inc.
August 21, 2025
Deal Reported In Former Twitter Workers’ $500M Lawsuit For Severance

SAN FRANCISCO — In a joint Aug. 20 filing citing an unspecified “imminent class-wide settlement agreement,” the parties in an appeal where former Twitter Inc. employees received support from amicus curiae the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in seeking revival of their putative class action for more than $500 million in severance benefits asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to postpone oral argument that is scheduled for Sept. 17.
August 21, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Ruling For Government In MPRA Pension Cuts Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Affirming summary judgment for the government in a class action, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that retirees’ attempt to get federal compensation for cuts made to their vested pension benefits fails because the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) “was not a physical taking and plaintiffs did not prove it was a regulatory taking.”
August 21, 2025
Judge: Pension Trust Must Pay Class Nearly $25M In Early Retirement Row

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Wrapping up a 6-year-old Employee Retirement Income Security Act case filed by labor union members whose early retirement benefits were stopped or denied because of non-boilermaker work, a Kansas federal judge ordered defendants to pay class members a total of $24,851,056 and to refrain from “acting in a manner that is contrary to” an April 30 summary judgment order.
August 20, 2025
Addressing Standing, 2nd Circuit Partly Remands ERISA Row Under Cunningham

NEW YORK — Mostly affirming dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenge to retirement plan fees and funds, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals used a precedential opinion “to clarify our standards applicable to the standing of a defined contribution plan plaintiff individually and on behalf of a putative class” and a simultaneous summary order to vacate judgment on two claims and remand for further consideration under the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 17 Cunningham v. Cornell University ruling.
August 20, 2025
LTD Recipient Amends Complaint Over IRA Rollover Offset

BILLINGS, Mont. — Following a Montana federal court ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act governs the long-term disability (LTD) policy at issue and preempts the previously asserted state law claims, a plaintiff who is challenging an offset that reduced his monthly benefit filed a second amended complaint making a single ERISA claim for recovery of plan benefits.
August 20, 2025
LTD Claimant Wins On Bonus Issue, Loses Bid To Overturn Benefits Termination

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge ruled that excluding bonuses when calculating benefits for a long-term disability (LTD) claimant “was unreasonable and an abuse of discretion” under the circumstances but affirmed the eventual termination of the benefits under an “any occupation” standard and rejected the claimant’s argument that there were procedural defects in the insurer’s review.
August 20, 2025
1st Circuit Appeal Is Filed Over LTD Termination Under Any-Occupation Definition

BOSTON — A claimant who unsuccessfully challenged a determination that she wasn’t entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits under an any-occupation standard despite being approved for Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) has docketed an appeal in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
August 18, 2025
Judge Affirms LTD Benefits Denial In Row Involving Elimination Period Requirement

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Accepting and adopting “the relevant portions” of an August 2024 report and recommendation, and overruling the objections of a claimant who sought long-term disability (LTD) benefits due to symptoms that arose after her vehicle was rear-ended, a Tennessee federal judge on Aug. 15 granted judgment on the administrative record for an insurer that denied benefits under an elimination period requirement.
August 18, 2025
Split 2nd Circuit Resolves Separation Agreement Row, Revives LTD Benefits Suit

NEW YORK — Ruling 2-1 “that any release of claims against [insurer Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada] was not knowing and voluntary,” the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived a suit over denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits where Sun Life had won summary judgment because of a separation agreement the claimant signed with her former employer.
August 14, 2025
11th Circuit Affirms Ruling For Insurer In LTD Dispute Involving Sedentary Work

ATLANTA — Affirming a ruling for an insurer that terminated long-term disability (LTD) benefits based on its determination that the claimant is capable of performing sedentary work, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an unpublished per curiam opinion issued Aug. 13 concluded that the claimant didn’t show that the lower court erred.
August 14, 2025
Third-Party Administrator’s Bid To Dismiss Remanded ERISA Suit Fails

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For “the reasons cited in full from the bench,” a Michigan federal judge declined to dismiss an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit that the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently revived; the case that a company filed against the third-party administrator (TPA) of its self-funded health benefits plan includes allegations regarding a shared savings program (SSP) and so-called flip logic.
August 13, 2025
$299,000 Class Deal Wins Final OK In ERISA Row Over Plan’s Tobacco Surcharge

CHICAGO — Resolving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over annual $1,152 surcharges imposed on about 431 health plan participants who use tobacco, an Illinois federal judge on Aug. 12 gave final approval to a $299,000 class settlement and made awards in the amounts requested, including $99,666.67 for attorney fees and a $5,000 case contribution award.
August 13, 2025
After Bench Trial, Judge Gives Plan Sponsor Win In ERISA Imprudence Row

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Following a four-day Employee Retirement Income Security Act bench trial in a suit over a retirement plan’s recordkeeping fees and share classes, a North Carolina federal judge on Aug. 12 found not only that the class of more than 55,000 participants didn’t establish any breach of the plan sponsor’s fiduciary duty of prudence but also that the sponsor’s process was prudent.
August 13, 2025
Judge Trims Fees, Service Awards In $7.15M Class Settlement Of ERISA Case

BOSTON — With a Massachusetts federal judge granting final approval, an Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over a profit sharing plan settled on a class basis for $7.15 million with a reported average gross recovery of $89,000; however, the judge awarded reduced attorney fees and service awards.
August 12, 2025
Lab’s Motion To Reconsider Partial Dismissal Of COVID Test Repayment Claims Denied

NEWARK, N.J. — In a lawsuit seeking reimbursement from health insurers for COVID-19 testing, a New Jersey judge on Aug. 11 denied a medical testing laboratory’s motion for reconsideration of her order dismissing claims based on retroactive assignments of rights by beneficiaries of plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and breach of implied contract claims.
August 12, 2025
Suit Over Airline’s LTD Plan Is Voluntarily Dismissed After Resolution Report

FORT WORTH, Texas — A putative class complaint that a disabled pilot filed over a May 2024 plan revision that he alleged resulted in underpayment of long-term disability (LTD) benefits was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on Aug. 11 after the defendants told the Texas federal court in a dismissal motion that the pilot’s union had already gotten the issues resolved through a Railway Labor Act (RLA) dispute-resolution process.
August 12, 2025
Amici Support 4th Circuit Review Bid Re Standing Ruling In Lawsuit Over PRT

RICHMOND, Va. — A petition for permission to file an interlocutory appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding a ruling that retirees had standing to file a putative class lawsuit that is part of a much-watched recent string of Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) is unopposed and has garnered two supporting briefs from amici curiae; among other things, the retirees allege that the use of offshore captive reinsurers makes annuity providers riskier.
August 11, 2025
9th Circuit Briefing Wraps Up In 1st ERISA Forfeiture Appeal

SAN FRANCISCO — Initial briefing has concluded in the most advanced of five appeals that have been filed over rulings in cases challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions, with the appellant who is seeking revival of the putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act case referencing two amicus curiae briefs in his reply filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
August 11, 2025
5th Circuit Mostly Vacates, Remands Row Over Assignment Of Health Care Claims

NEW ORLEANS — Concluding in part that the lower court “ignored the Physician Groups’ arguments about ambiguities in contract language and applied the wrong legal standard in determining whether assignments to the Physician Groups were valid,” the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 8 mostly vacated and remanded summary judgment against health insurance plans in a reimbursement dispute over out-of-network care.
August 11, 2025
$6.9M Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Imprudence Row Over Fees And Funds

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal magistrate judge granted final approval to a $6.9 million class settlement of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit involving recordkeeping fees and proprietary target date funds (TDFs); according to retirement plan participants, the gross amount is “approximately 12% to 38% of damages” estimated by their expert.
August 08, 2025
Extra-Record Discovery On Purported Conflict Of Interest Is Denied In LTD Row

NEWARK, N.J. — Concluding that discovery requests “are not only unjustified under the conflict of interest exception to the” Employee Retirement Income Security Act “record rule, but not proportional to the needs of this case,” a New Jersey federal magistrate judge denied a pharmacist’s request to allow discovery beyond the administrative record in her suit challenging termination of her long-term disability (LTD) benefits.
August 08, 2025
Trump Signs Executive Order Regarding Private Market Investments For 401(k)s

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Aug. 7 executive order concerning 401(k)s and other defined-contribution retirement plans, President Donald J. Trump directed reexamination of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) “past and present guidance regarding a fiduciary’s duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 . . . in connection with making available to participants an asset allocation fund that includes investments in” private market investments and other “alternative assets.”
August 07, 2025
Fiduciary Breach Claim Partly Survives In Long-Running Insurance Coverage Row

SAN FRANCISCO — After more than a decade of litigation that includes numerous appellate court rulings in a class action over thousands of mental health and substance use disorder treatmentclaims, a California federal magistrate judge ruled that part of a breach of fiduciary claim survives and exhaustion as to that remaining claim is not required or is excused.