In International Painters and Allied Trades Industry Pension Fund v. Florida Glass of Tampa Bay, Inc., 2026 WL 191344 (4th Cir. Jan. 26, 2026, No. 25-1312), the Fourth Circuit held that the “contingent” proof of claim a multiemployer pension plan filed in a contributing employer’s bankruptcy did not constitute a “notice and demand” triggering
Third Circuit Holds No Deference Due Where Administrator Fails to Articulate an Interpretation of an Ambiguous Plan Term
In most cases, denials of ERISA plan benefits by administrators who have been granted discretionary authority to interpret and apply the plan are reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard, and may only be reversed if the denial was arbitrary and capricious. Such deference, however, is not without limits, and there are circumstances in which
District Court Vacates HIPAA Reproductive Health Care Rule
Last month, a federal district court in Texas vacated portions of the HIPAA final rule that added heightened protections for reproductive health care information (the “Final Rule”). Purl, et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, et al., No. 2:24-cv-00228-Z (N.D. Tex. June 18, 2025). As discussed in our prior blog posts
EBSA Releases Long-Awaited Update to Model Annual Funding Notices Reflecting SECURE 2.0 Changes
Following up on our recent blog post, SECURE 2.0’s Required Changes to Annual Funding Notice Become Effective in 2025, the Department of Labor released Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-02 on April 3, which addresses compliance questions regarding the required changes to AFNs under SECURE 2.0 and includes two updated model AFNs incorporating these changes.[1]