Judicial Documents
The ERISA Industry Committee Files Lawsuit Against Oregon
ERIC has filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon against the Oregon Retirement Savings Board for obstructing federal law. In the complaint, ERIC is requesting an injunction against only the reporting requirement OregonSaves imposes on employers that already provide a retirement plan… More
ERIC’s Legal Complaint about OregonSaves State Retirement Plan: What You Need to Know
OregonSaves is the State of Oregon’s state-run retirement program. Signed into law in June 2015, the Oregon Retirement Savings Board was implemented and tasked with creating a defined contribution retirement plan for private-sector employees… More
Supreme Court Holds for Companies and Statements of Opinions/Corporate Filings
The Supreme Court recently ruled in support companies and statements in its corporate filings by holding that public companies are not liable for statements of opinions that turn out to be false. … More
Cert Request in RJR Pension Investment Committee v. Tatum
The Supreme Court has asked for the solicitor general to weigh in regarding whether it should grant cert to a case that would decide who bears the burden of proving a breach of fiduciary duty caused financial losses to a pension plan. … More
Oral Arguments in King v. Burwell: They Came, They Spoke, They Sat Down Again
Oral arguments in King v. Burwell were heard on Wednesday, and few pundits have failed to render an opinion. To me, the bottom line is… More
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Tibble v. Edison International
The U.S. Supreme Court on February 24 heard oral arguments in Tibble v. Edison International involving whether a claim that fiduciaries breached their duty of prudence by offering higher-cost retail-class mutual funds to participants instead of institution-class mutual funds … More
SCOTUS Declines to Take on Windstream Case, Permitting Reduction of Retiree Health Benefits
The U.S. Supreme Court on February 23 declined to rehear a decision from the 8th Circuit Court that basically left standing an action by Windstream Corporation to significantly reduce retiree health benefits … More
Second Circuit Rules for Plaintiffs in Amara v. Cigna
Earlier today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the district court’s finding of plan reformation in Amara v. Cigna Corp.… More
Second Circuit Ruling in Amara v. CIGNA Corp.
Amara v. CIGNA Corp. … More
Solicitor General Invited to File Brief in ERISA Preemption Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has invited the Solicitor General to file a brief to advise the Court whether to accept cert in the case of Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. … More
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Retiree Health Case
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the case of M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, which involves when retiree health benefits are considered to be vested. … More
Supreme Court Declines Review of Fiduciary Breach Claims in Tussey v. ABB
The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced that it will not hear the case of Tussey v. ABB, despite encouragement from the Solicitor of Labor to hear the case. The Tussey case involved whether deference should be limited to fiduciaries’ decisions that relate to benefit claims. … More
District Court Denies EEOC’s Request for Temporary Restraining Order and Injunction against Company Wellness Program
Today, the judge in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota denied EEOC’s request for a TRO/PI, finding that the Honeywell wellness program inflicted no “irreparable harm”. … More
EEOC Once Again Goes after Employer Wellness Plan; Files for Temporary Restraining Order
Yesterday the EEOC filed for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and an Expedited Preliminary Injunction in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, claiming that Honeywell’s wellness program violates both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). … More
Sixth Circuit Allows Plan to Restrict Where Lawsuits Can Be Filed
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a plan document can limit where participants can file suit. In Smith v. Aegon Companies Pension Plan, the participant retired in 2000 and began to receive benefits… More
Court Approves Class Action and Reinstates Claim in Osberg v. Foot Locker
We wanted to update ERIC members on the latest developments in the Osberg v. Foot Locker case (in which ERIC previously filed an amicus brief on behalf of members with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals). … More
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case on Monitoring Plan Investments
The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that it will hear the case of Tibble v. Edison International, which involves the selection and monitoring of plan investments and the amount of fees related to those investments.… More
EEOC Leaps into the Wellness Fray AGAIN
The EEOC has double-downed on their rulemaking-through-lawsuit approach to wellness programs by suing Flambeau, Inc., for a similar violation of the ADA. … More
Oklahoma District Court Finds Individuals in Federal Exchanges Ineligible for Subsidized Coverage under ACA
The federal district court in Oklahoma today decided to vacate the IRS regulation under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that permits individuals in states with federal Exchanges to receive subsidized health insurance. … More
Ninth Circuit Considers All Relevant Factors When Reviewing Fiduciary Decisions
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently examined the standard that applies when courts review a fiduciary’s benefit denial. The Court held that courts should consider “all of the relevant circumstances,” rather than upholding an administrator’s decision as long as it was reasonable.… More
D.C. Circuit Court Agrees to Rehear ACA Case Involving Tax Subsidies
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia announced September 4 that it will rehear the case involving whether tax subsidies are available for both the state-based and federally-run exchanges (Halbig v. Burwell).… More
SOL Recommends That Supreme Court Decide Fiduciary Duty Case
The Solicitor of Labor recently recommended that the U.S. Supreme Court consider to what extent fiduciaries are required to monitor investments on an ongoing basis in Tibble v. Edison International. In the Tibble case, the participants alleged that the plan fiduciaries improperly included retail-class mutual funds as investment options and violated the plan’s terms by allowing revenue sharing. … More
EEOC Leaps into the Wellness Fray
In a complaint filed yesterday, the EEOC sued Orion Energy Systems Inc. The EEOC claims that Orion violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because it forced an employee to submit to medical exams and inquiries that were not job-related and consistent with business necessity as part of a wellness program that, according to the EEOC, was not voluntary. … More
Fourth Circuit Examines Fiduciary Duties
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in Tatum v. RJR Pension Investment Committee on the requirements for fiduciaries when eliminating a plan investment.… More
Mixed Results from Courts of Appeals on ERISA Preemption
In recent weeks, U.S. Courts of Appeals have provided mixed results when determining whether state laws were superseded (i.e., preempted) by ERISA. Several Circuit Courts of Appeals recently held that a number of state laws that impacted ERISA plans were not preempted by ERISA, while some courts held that other state laws were not. … More