By Porter Wright on If you are the fiduciary of an ERISA plan that invested in John Hancock group variable annuity contracts, we hope you have heard that three individuals have filed a lawsuit, claiming to be representing your plan and its participants and beneficiaries. You will not be receiving service of process.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A recent case, Tussey v. ABB, Inc., has received much warranted and unwarranted attention in the Section 401(k) plan arena. In Part 1 of this legal update, we will explain the basics of what happened in this case. In Part 2, we will provide practical aspects of Tussey and deliver specific recommendations on how plan sponsors and fiduciaries can help minimize their potential fiduciary liability.… Continue Reading
By Jared Klaus on The Supreme Court last week denied a writ of certiorari to review the Sixth Circuit’s rejection of class certification for a group of self-insured health plans alleging that their plan administrator charged them improper fees.… Continue Reading
By Jared Klaus on In Nationwide Life Ins. Co. v. Haddock, No. 10-4237-cv (Feb. 6, 2012), the Second Circuit vacated a district court’s order certifying an ERISA class action in light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011). This decision may be a game-changer in the ERISA class action litigation arena, and may ease the pressure on service providers and employers to settle even frivolous claims to avoid the expense of litigation.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on ERISA preemption of state law is complicated, and it gets even murkier in state court. We advise our clients and our litigation partners to immediately refer anything that smells like an ERISA action to our ERISA team, so that the matter can be timely removed to federal court. State courts do not routinely handle ERISA matters, and this litigation tends to not go very well there. Barnett v. SKF USA, Inc. demonstrates what can happen.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Sixth Circuit has reversed the district court's dismissal of the GM ERISA stock-drop suit, Pfeil v. State Street Bank & Trust Co., and is allowing the case to proceed. You may recall that we cautioned fiduciaries of ESOPs and 401(k) plans allowing investment in employer stock to keep an eye on this case because it could be a game-changer. And now it is.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Plan administrators need to take steps to ensure that the information they provide to plan participants is accurate. Otherwise, plan participants may use this misinformation to bring an estoppel claim.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A recent Sixth Circuit decision provides a tutorial on designing and administering an ERISA executive compensation top-hat plan. In Daft v. Advest, Inc., a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the District Court’s decision that the executive compensation plan was an ERISA plan but was not a top-hat plan, on the grounds … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Feeling overwhelmed by ambiguous employee benefits law? You're not alone. A law firm recently filed an interpleader in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, asking the court to decide whether its deceased employee had a "spouse" who was entitled to profit sharing plan benefits.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Would you like to spend a morning outside of the office, enjoying free breakfast and continuing education credit? Here's your chance! This month, Porter Wright is sponsoring Employment Relations Seminars in both Cleveland and Columbus. I will be speaking about employee benefits developments and best practices at both session, and would love to see you there. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on I would like to direct our readers to a recent post by my partner - Bill McGrath on our sister blog - Federal Securities Law Blog titled "Ohio Federal Judge Allows Say-on-Pay Lawsuit to Proceed." … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on “Document everything” is often a best practice, but when you are an ERISA plan fiduciary communicating with your attorney, you may need to throw that thinking out the door. In Solis v. Food Employers Labor Relations Association the Fourth Circuit joined the Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in holding that the attorney-client privilege does … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on We often are asked why plan amendment procedures vary from plan to plan, and why it is important to follow those procedures—however written. Sometimes there are unique reasons for the specified procedures, but very possibly the answer goes back to the 1990’s and a case called Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. Schoonejongen, which took us on an … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Plan fiduciaries generally understand that they have certain duties related to plan investments and service provider fees. Court decisions over the years have shed some light on these duties. Fiduciaries should already be doing the following to satisfy their fiduciary duties: 1. Obtain some measure of expertise in plan investments. Lacking expertise, a fiduciary should … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on The United States Department of Labor (“the DOL”) has challenged the dismissal of a 401(k) plan fiduciary breach claim on two grounds, in an amicus brief filed with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, See Pfeil v. State Street Bank & Trust Co., E. D. Mich. No. 09CV12229; (Brief available here). One argument the DOL … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Although some disagree, selecting a mediator to facilitate a settlement in an ERISA or employment litigation case based on a meeting of the minds may be the most important part of the mediation process. My partner, Peggy Koesel recently wrote a blog earlier this week on our sister blog – Employer Law Report – that … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on The Sixth Circuit recently allowed the ERISA Section 404(c) safe harbor to protect a 401(k) plan’s directed trustee from being held responsible for losses in self-directed brokerage accounts. See, Tullis v. UMB Bank, N.A. This case spotlights the importance of this safe harbor for plans that allow participant direction of investments, and the DOL’s recent … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on I wanted to direct our readers to a recent post from Brian Hall – Editor of our sister blog – Employer Law Report – regarding a recent Sixth Circuit decision in Farhner v. United Transportation Union Discipline Income Protection Plan. As Brian states: … a well-drafted ERISA income protection or severance pay plan should enable the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On our sister blog – Employer Law Report – we recently blogged about an infrequent ERISA surprise from the US Supreme Court, in CIGNA v. Amara, and now we have a second ruling from the Supreme Court in that case, granting Amara certioria and remanding. This is a procedural twist that is more interesting to lawyers than … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Supreme Court decisions about ERISA cases, while infrequent, typically contain some surprises, as demonstrated most recently in CIGNA Corp. v. Amara. In 1997, CIGNA notified employees that it was freezing accruals under its traditional defined benefit plan, and converting the plan into a cash balance plan. A cash balance plan is a “hybrid” defined benefit … Continue Reading
