Analysis

4th Circ. Genworth Ruling Raises Bar For ERISA Class Actions

By Kellie Mejdrich

A recent Fourth Circuit decision in a suit challenging Genworth Financial Inc.'s inclusion of target-date fund investments as employee retirement plan options will make it tougher to certify similar class actions and could have a ripple effect in a broader range of cases, experts told Law360.

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Brief

Auto Co. Reaches $395K Health Fee, 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Deal

By Patrick Hoff

An automotive lighting company will pay $395,000 to resolve a proposed class action claiming it mismanaged forfeited 401(k) funds and failed to tell employees who used tobacco how to avoid paying an extra fee for health insurance, according to a Friday filing in Illinois federal court.

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Alaska Airlines Pilot's Military Leave Benefits Suit Trimmed

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge has narrowed a pilot's class action accusing Alaska Airlines of denying employees sick leave and vacation accrual during military leave, while recognizing in the same Thursday order that a "reasonable jury" could find service members are entitled to certain benefits during absences spanning one to two months.

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CSX Can't Get Quick Appeal In Fired Worker's FMLA Suit

By Patrick Hoff

CSX can't immediately ask the Eleventh Circuit to take up a former employee's lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully fired for taking medical leave, a Florida federal judge ruled, saying the district court's conclusion that the worker hadn't waited too long to file suit wasn't eligible for a mid-case appeal.

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Ga. Lawmaker Pleads Guilty To Unemployment Benefits Fraud

By Kelcey Caulder

Former Georgia state Rep. Dexter Sharper pled guilty to fraudulently collecting nearly $14,000 in unemployment benefits he was not entitled to during the COVID-19 pandemic, just days after announcing on social media that he will resign his House seat.

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Kroger Agrees To Pay $17M In Drug Copay Inflation Case

By Gianna Ferrarin

Kroger pharmacy customers reached a $17 million settlement with the grocer resolving allegations that it inflated their copays for insured prescriptions, according to a motion for preliminary approval of the deal filed in Ohio federal court.

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HR Services Co. Fired Exec Over Medical Leave, Court Told

By Benjamin Morse

A human resources outsourcing company fired an executive just three days after learning he had applied for Colorado medical leave while he was still recovering from sepsis that led to kidney and lung failure, according to a complaint filed in state court.

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Insurers Seek Early Win In Contractor's $1.7M Premium Suit

By Elaine Briseño

Hartford insurers argued in a bid for an early win that a straightforward policy justified their decision to retroactively charge a government contractor an additional $1.7 million in premiums for misclassifying some workers as clerical, instead of warehouse, employees.

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Agri Stats Cuts Chicken, Pork, Turkey Price-Fixing Deals

By Matthew Perlman

Agri Stats Inc. reached settlements Friday with groups of buyers in separate cases over alleged price fixing in the chicken, pork and turkey industries, ending several sets of claims targeting use of its benchmarking reports by protein processors.

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How PBMs Can Adapt To Plan Sponsors' Disclosure Demands

As federal reforms, growing state regulation and litigation threats push plan sponsors to expect visibility into revenue streams, pharmacy benefit managers should leverage transparency strategically, including by simplifying how they get paid, offering clients audit-ready data and co-designing contracts that are easy for fiduciaries to explain and defend, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

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Conservative Groups Back DOJ As Amici In Law Firm EO Suits

By Emily Sawicki

Conservative groups are backing the Trump administration's attempts to revive executive orders targeting BigLaw firms, arguing in an amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit that Perkins Coie LLP had "unclean hands" for its part in what they called the "Russiagate hoax."

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Winston & Strawn Sanctioned For Trying To 'Make Up Facts'

By Dani Kass

A California federal judge sanctioned Winston & Strawn LLP on Monday for making up facts and otherwise misrepresenting the record in contract litigation over its client's app being removed from Apple's platform, then separately dismissed the case on the merits.

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Don't 'Grimace, Nod, Laugh': Judge Breyer Slams Musk's Attys

By Bonnie Eslinger

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer scolded Elon Musk's Quinn Emanuel counsel during a hearing Monday ahead of closing arguments in California litigation alleging that Musk tanked Twitter's stock to get out of his $44 billion acquisition deal, saying he wouldn't "sit here and watch lawyers grimace, nod, laugh in court."

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SEC Enforcement Head Resigns After 7 Months

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that its enforcement director, Margaret "Meg" Ryan, has resigned from the agency after nearly seven months on the job.

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Analysis

Excitement, Tinged With Skepticism, Over AAA's AI Arbitrator

By Caroline Simson

The American Arbitration Association caused a stir last fall when it introduced its AI Arbitrator for documents-only construction cases, and even though lawyers say they're excited about the tool's possibilities — and that of artificial intelligence in arbitration in general — so far, many have been reluctant to be the first to take that plunge.

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Boris Epshteyn Targeted Over Trump Bid To 'Coerce' BigLaw

By Lauren Berg

Lawyers, law professors and retired judges led by two nonprofits urged the New York state courts' ethics committee on Monday to investigate Boris Epshteyn's involvement in President Donald Trump's efforts to "intimidate and coerce" BigLaw firms into pro bono agreements with the administration.

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Trump To Get 5th North Carolina Federal Court Vacancy

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump will get another judicial vacancy to fill in North Carolina with U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen Jr. of the Middle District of North Carolina recently announcing he will take senior status.

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Paralegal Calls Full Lewis Brisbois Arbitration Unenforceable

By Adrian Cruz

A former Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP paralegal has told a Florida state judge that the firm shouldn't be able to force her into arbitrating her claims against it because a number of the alleged actions took place after she was terminated from her job.

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Democrats Push DOJ To Investigate Noem For Perjury

By Courtney Bublé

Democrats have referred the departing U.S. secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation following her recent congressional testimony.

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Mass. Justices Won't Boost Pay For Court-Appointed Attys

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court on Monday declined a request to let state judges offer higher hourly rates to induce attorneys to accept court-appointed cases, a proposal meant to alleviate a shortage of appointed counsel in two of the state's busiest counties.

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Ga. Panel Says Minister Can't Rep His Church In Tax Case

By Chart Riggall

The Georgia Court of Appeals said Monday that nonattorneys can't be allowed to represent unincorporated associations in court, backing a trial court's dismissal of a minister's bid to represent his church in a property tax dispute with his home county.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket last week featured disputes including an $83.75 million settlement tied to a renewable energy merger, fraud claims in a fertilizer company acquisition and a developer's fight for control of a major Philadelphia redevelopment project.

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