Aaron Feuer
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The Third Circuit held that a plan administrator’s plan interpretation requiring an actuarial reduction of certain employees’ pension benefits conflicted with the plan’s terms. As such, its decision to reduce participants’ benefits violated ERISA section 502(a)(1)(B), and also violated ERISA’s prohibition against cutbacks of accrued benefits. … Continue Reading
A California federal district court dismissed a plan fiduciary’s equitable indemnity claim because such claims are not available to a breaching fiduciary under ERISA. Plaintiff William Brown commenced a putative class action for long-term disability benefits. … Continue Reading
A New York district court held that surcharge could include not only make-whole relief, but also consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages in limited circumstances where malice or fraud is involved. Plaintiff Janet D’Iorio alleged that Winebow breached its fiduciary duty by failing to provide an SPD and by making material misrepresentations about whether her commissions … Continue Reading
In the latest chapter of the Amara saga, the Second Circuit recently affirmed the district court’s class-wide order to reform CIGNA’s cash balance plan, as a means to remedy what the district court previously found to be CIGNA’s breach of its statutory notice obligations.… Continue Reading
A panel of the Ninth Circuit withdrew its earlier opinion and has now joined other circuits in finding that the equitable remedy of surcharge is available for participants seeking recovery of personal losses as opposed to losses suffered by the plan. Gabriel v. Alaska Elec. Pension Fund, 2014 WL 7139686 (9th Cir. Dec. 16, 2014). … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit recently held (in a summary order) that plan participants’ claims alleging violations of ERISA’s disclosure rules in connection with a cash balance conversion were barred by the statute of limitations. In so ruling, the Court explained that because the participants’ claims that defendants breached their fiduciary duties by mischaracterizing the new plan’s … Continue Reading
Where an ERISA plan specifically sets forth in the plan document its rights to reimbursement/subrogation vis-à-vis a plan participant then there is no requirement that recovery be conditioned on the plan being able to trace the recovered monies to the original benefit payment. Under such circumstances, the plan is considered to have an equitable lien … Continue Reading
We previously reported (here) that the Ninth Circuit stands alone in expressly limiting the availability of surcharge to cases involving loss to, or unjust enrichment at the expense of, the plan (as opposed to being available to a participant claiming personal loss flowing from a fiduciary breach). See Gabriel v. Alaska Electrical Pension Fund, … Continue Reading
Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court identified three forms of appropriate equitable relief — reformation, equitable estoppel and surcharge — that are available under Section 502(a)(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (‘‘ERISA’’). See Cigna Corp. v. Amara, 131 S. Ct. 1866, 50 EBC 2569, 2011 BL 128629 (2011). This article focuses on the availability of surcharge and, in particular, … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit recently held that ERISA did not preempt a plan participant’s claim for state law fraudulent inducement. McCarthy v. Ameritech Pub., Inc., No. 12-4510, 2014 WL 3930572 (6th Cir. 2014). Defendant-API’s decided to terminate Plaintiff’s employment and gave her two options: (1) she could leave and receive a lump-sum “termination payment”; or (2) … Continue Reading
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), requires trustees of multiemployer pension and benefit funds to collect contributions required to be made by contributing employers under their collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) with the labor union sponsoring the plans. This is not always an easy task—often, an employer is an incorporated entity … Continue Reading
A district court in the Tenth Circuit adopted the presumption of prudence in dismissing a class action alleging that the defendants violated their fiduciary duties by allowing participants to continue investing in company stock at a time when the employer was allegedly experiencing significant financial difficulties. In re Chesapeake Energy Corp. 2012 ERISA Class Litig., … Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit recently held that an employer who failed to pay $170,045 in withdrawal liability could discharge the liability in bankruptcy. Carpenters Pension Trust Fund v. Moxley, No. 11-16133 (9th Cir. August 20, 2013). In so ruling, the Court rejected the Fund’s argument that unpaid withdrawal liability constituted a plan asset. The Court distinguished … Continue Reading
A federal district court in New Jersey recently dismissed claims asserted by a putative class of chiropractors seeking to enjoin the procedure used by UnitedHealth to determine the necessity of certain treatments administered by in-network physicians, finding that they lacked standing to assert their claims. Premier Health Ctr., P.C. v. UnitedHealth Grp., No. 2:11-cv-00425-ES-CLW (D.N.J. … Continue Reading
A federal district court in New Jersey recently declined to apply an equitable exception to excuse an employer’s failure to pay interim withdrawal liability payments while it challenged the demand for withdrawal liability. Nat’l Integrated Grp. Pension Plan v. Black Millwork Co., 2:11-cv-05072-KM-MAH (D.N.J. August 1, 2013). After making one withdrawal liability payment, the employer … Continue Reading
Last year, we reported on how the federal discovery rule – pursuant to which claims for benefits do not accrue until the participant could reasonably have discovered the claim – can require plans to defend the merits of dated claims. In that article, we noted that efforts to protect plans had taken the form of … Continue Reading
Plan Administrator’s “Second Plan Interpretation” Violates Anti-Cutback Rule
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Benefit Claims
Breaching Fiduciary Cannot Seek Equitable Indemnity from Another Fiduciary
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Remedies
District Court Defines Surcharge Broadly
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Remedies
Second Circuit: Class-Wide Reformation Is Appropriate Equitable Relief
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Remedies
Ninth Circuit Breathes Life Into Participant’s Claim for Surcharge
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Remedies
Second Circuit Holds ERISA Disclosure Claims Are Time-Barred
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Statute of Limitations
Second Circuit Rejects Plan’s Claim For Reimbursement From Another Plan
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Subrogation/Reimbursement
District Courts Continue to Reject the Ninth Circuit’s Limitation on Surcharge
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Remedies
View From Proskauer: The Availability of Surcharge as Relief for Individual ERISA Fiduciary Breach Claims
Sixth Circuit says ERISA does not preempt state law claim for fraudulent inducement.
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Preemption
Unpaid Employer Contributions as Plan Assets: Expansion Of Liability Under ERISA
By Aaron Feuer and Neal Schelberg on Posted in Collective Bargaining, Multiemployer Funds, Plan Assets
District Court in Tenth Circuit Adopts Presumption of Prudence
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Employer Stock Fund Litigation
Ninth Circuit Allows Bankruptcy Discharge of ERISA Withdrawal Liability
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Plan Assets, Withdrawal Liability
Chiropractors Lack Standing Under ERISA to Assert Claims For Benefits
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Assignments, Standing
Equitable Exception To Excuse Interim Withdrawal Liability Payments Rejected
By Aaron Feuer on Posted in Withdrawal Liability
View from Proskauer: The Supreme Court To Opine On The Use Of Contractual Limitation Periods in ERISA Plans
By Aaron Feuer and Amy Covert on Posted in Statute of Limitations, Supreme Court
