Daniel Wesson
Associate
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Daniel Wesson is an associate in the Labor Department and a member of the ERISA Litigation Group.
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In Holland v. Murray, No. 21-cv-567, 2023 WL 2645708 (D.D.C. Mar. 27, 2023), the court held that financial support provided by Congress to a multiemployer pension plan under the Bipartisan American Miners Act (“BAMA”) did not divest the plan of Article III standing to pursue the withdrawal liability it was owed.… Continue Reading
In Central States v. Wingra, No. 21-cv-3684, 2023 WL 199360 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 17, 2023), the district court held that an employer expelled from a multiemployer pension plan may not owe withdrawal liability because the permanent cessation of the employer’s obligation to contribute was not voluntary. While the court subsequently limited the decision as being … Continue Reading
A third district court has dismissed with prejudice a complaint alleging that defendants breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA by offering 401(k) plan participants the option to invest in BlackRock LifePath Index Target Date Funds (the “Funds”). Beldock v. Microsoft, Case No. 22-cv-1082 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 24, 2023). Although the outcome of the court’s ruling … Continue Reading
On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University, concluding that participants in two Northwestern 403(b) plans plausibly pled fiduciary-breach claims based on allegations of excessive recordkeeping and investment management fees, but dismissed their claim that too many investment options caused them “decision paralysis.” In so … Continue Reading
A district court in the Southern District of Ohio and one in the Western District of Wisconsin reached opposite conclusions on motions to dismiss claims for fiduciary breach based on allegations that recordkeeping fees were unreasonably high. Dismissal was granted in Sigetich v. The Kroger Co., No. 21-cv-697, 2023 WL 2431667 (S.D. Oh. Mar. 9, … Continue Reading
The filing of a new 401(k) plan “excessive fee” or “investment underperformance” complaint is hardly “news” these days given the proliferation of suits that have been filed over the past several years. In fact, hardly a week goes by when at least one new lawsuit has not been commenced. Still, plan sponsors and fiduciaries were … Continue Reading
In a striking reversal of approach beginning in the summer of 2022, the District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin went from denying, in whole or in part, virtually every motion to dismiss ERISA lawsuits targeting plan recordkeeping fees and investment fund selections to granting all of them. This nearly 180 degree pivot comes … Continue Reading
On the heels of several recent court decisions concerning gender-affirming care, a federal district court in Washington concluded that the denial of benefits for gender-affirming care by a third-party administrator (“TPA”) administering a self-insured plan violated Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). By way of background, Section 1557 sets … Continue Reading
A district court in New York recently refused to enforce an arbitration provision in an ERISA fiduciary breach lawsuit challenging the valuation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”). The ruling in Lloyd v. Argent, No. 22-cv-4129, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 219964 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 6, 2022), exposes the continued uncertainty as to the enforceability of … Continue Reading
In Krutchen v. Ricoh USA, No. 22-cv-678, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206792 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 15, 2022), a Pennsylvania district court dismissed an ERISA excessive fee complaint for failing to provide enough information about alleged comparator plans that allegedly paid less for recordkeeping services. The decision is notable for delivering defendants a victory in the … Continue Reading
In a pair of report and recommendations issued the same day, a Magistrate Judge in Wisconsin recently recommended that the district court (i) grant motions for reconsideration of prior denials of motions to dismiss claims challenging defined contribution plans’ fees, and (ii) grant the motions to dismiss in their entirety. Underpinning the recommendations is the … Continue Reading
In Matousek v. MidAmerican Energy Co., 2022 WL 6880771, __ F.4th __ (8th Cir. 2022), the Eighth Circuit joined the Sixth and Seventh Circuits in affirming dismissal of ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims alleging that the plan fiduciaries allowed the plan to pay excessive recordkeeping and administrative fees and offered imprudent investment options. Background … Continue Reading
In Baumeister v. Exelon, No. 21-cv-6505, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176711 (N.D. Ill. Sep. 22, 2022) and Coyer v. Univar Sols. USA Inc., No. 22-cv-362, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175972 (N.D. Ill. Sep. 28, 2022), two Illinois district courts became the first courts in the Seventh Circuit to rule on motions to dismiss ERISA fee … Continue Reading
In McQuillin v. Hartford Life and Accident Ins. Co., 36 F.4th 416 (2d Cir. 2022), the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit restored a claimant’s action for disability benefits due to the plan administrator’s failure to adhere to a procedural deadline. The Court concluded that the administrator’s failure resulted in automatic exhaustion of … Continue Reading
The Seventh Circuit recently provided a ray of sunshine in what has largely been a gloomy stretch for plan sponsors and fiduciaries defending ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims based on allegedly excessive investment and administrative fees and investment underperformance. In this particular case, Oshkosh emerged victorious with the Seventh Circuit affirming the dismissal—at the … Continue Reading
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, courts around the country have overwhelmingly rejected ERISA fiduciary-breach claims by 401(k) plan participants seeking relief related to investments in company stock funds. The Seventh Circuit recently continued that trend by affirming the dismissal of claims brought by participants in the Boeing 401(k) plan, … Continue Reading
To the disappointment of many in the ERISA community, the Supreme Court issued a six-page opinion on January 24th that declined to opine on most of the issues that were before the Court in Hughes v. Northwestern University, No. 19-1401 (U.S. Jan. 24, 2022). In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Sotomayor, in which Justice … Continue Reading
District Court Denies Employer’s “Injury-In-Fact” Challenge to Withdrawal Liability
By Neil V. Shah and Daniel Wesson on Posted in Withdrawal Liability
District Court Holds Employer “Expelled” From Plan May Not Have Effected a “Withdrawal”
By Neil V. Shah and Daniel Wesson on Posted in Withdrawal Liability
Dismissal Streak Continues in BlackRock Target Date Fund Litigation
By Myron Rumeld, Joseph Clark and Daniel Wesson on Posted in 401(k) Plans, Class Actions, Fiduciary Breach
Northwestern University’s Alternative Explanations Not Strong Enough To Defeat ERISA Excessive Fee Claims
District Courts Reach Opposite Conclusions on 401(k) Excessive Fee Claims
Industry Coalition Unites to Support Dismissal of ERISA Fiduciary-Breach Claims Related To BlackRock Target Date Funds
By Russell Hirschhorn and Daniel Wesson on Posted in 401(k) Plans, ERISA Coverage, Fiduciary Breach
Wisconsin District Court Rulings Signal Potential New Trend Favoring the Defense of ERISA Fee and Investment Performance Lawsuits
District Court Holds Third-Party Administrator Violated ACA’s Anti-Discrimination Rules by Administering Self-Insured Plan’s Exclusion for Gender-Affirming Care
By Daniel Wesson and Jennifer Rigterink on Posted in Affordable Care Act, Health Plan Compliance
S.D.N.Y. Voids ERISA Plan’s Arbitration Provision
By Joseph Clark and Daniel Wesson on Posted in Arbitration, Fiduciary Breach
ERISA Fee Complaint Dismissed in Pennsylvania District Court, Extending Favorable Trend
Magistrate Recommends 180° Course Correction on Previously Denied Motions to Dismiss In ERISA Fee Litigation Cases
By Joseph Clark and Daniel Wesson on Posted in Defined Contribution Plan Investment Litigation, Fiduciary Breach
Eighth Circuit Joins Growing Number of Courts Rejecting Common ERISA Fee and Investment Claims
Two District Courts in the Seventh Circuit Grapple with Pleading Standards in ERISA Excessive Fee Cases
Second Circuit Decision Illustrates Importance of Following Claims Procedures, and Drastic Consequences of Procedural Misstep
By Seth Safra and Daniel Wesson on Posted in ERISA Coverage
Seventh Circuit Provides Hope for ERISA Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries Defending Investment Fee & Performance Litigation
Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of ERISA Stock-Drop Case
By Russell Hirschhorn and Daniel Wesson on Posted in 401(k) Plans, Fiduciary, Fiduciary Breach
