The First Circuit recently held, in line with other circuits, that the statute of limitations for a claim of underpayment of long-term disability benefits does not accrue with each monthly benefit payment made, but instead accrues at the time the underpayment is made known to the participant when he receives his first “miscalculated” benefit award. See Riley v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 2014 WL 814742 (1st Cir. Mar. 4, 2014). In so ruling, the Court rejected Plaintiff Robert Riley’s argument that the long-term disability plan should be treated as “an installment contract” allowing for a separate causes of action each time an alleged underpayment was made. The Court reasoned that allowing a beneficiary to challenge alleged underpayments each time a payment was made would not serve ERISA’s policy of “predictability,” among other reasons, because it would undermine the plan’s reliance on actuarially calculated benefit payments, which is essential to the administration of the plan.

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Photo of Anthony Cacace Anthony Cacace

Anthony S. Cacace is a partner in Proskauer’s Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. Anthony serves as legal counsel to the boards of trustees and other fiduciaries of Taft-Hartley multiemployer pension and welfare…

Anthony S. Cacace is a partner in Proskauer’s Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. Anthony serves as legal counsel to the boards of trustees and other fiduciaries of Taft-Hartley multiemployer pension and welfare benefit plans subject to ERISA in a variety of industries. These include construction, transportation, private sanitation, trucking, industrial, health care and maritime.

Anthony’s representation of trustees and other fiduciaries ranges from counseling on the day-to-day operations of multiemployer funds, including:

  • drafting plan documents, amendments and procedures;
  • negotiating and drafting fund service provider agreements;
  • counseling with respect to participant claims; and
  • providing legal advice with respect to requirements of ERISA and the IRC.

His practice also includes more complex and high stakes scenarios, such as:

  • advising on fund mergers;
  • advising on fund acquisitions of real property;
  • drafting and submitting corrective applications to the IRS; and
  • counseling fiduciaries in investigations and audits by governmental agencies (including the U.S. DOL, U.S. DOJ and the IRS).

Anthony’s practice is unique because of his specialization in ERISA litigation. He advises trustees and fiduciaries from a litigation avoidance perspective, solving problems and rendering advice in risk exposure situations before they evolve into disputes or litigations. A skilled litigator, he often defends trustees and fiduciaries in lawsuits brought pursuant to ERISA, alleging claims for breaches of fiduciary duty, benefit claim denials, plan investment losses and improper plan amendments. In addition, he regularly represents his fund clients as plaintiffs in court, seeking to collect withdrawal liability and delinquent contributions from contributing employers.

Anthony is an accomplished author and speaker on issues confronting trustees of multiemployer funds. He has authored several articles featured in Bloomberg Law Reports and Benefits Magazine, and also serves as a chapter editor of the withdrawal liability section of the American Bar Association’s Employee Benefits Law treatise published by BNA. Anthony is routinely invited to speak at International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conferences and the ABA Employee Benefits Committee mid-winter meetings.