In a case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit overturned 35 years of precedent and ruled that ERISA class action claims brought on behalf of an ERISA plan are subject to individual arbitration. The Court also enforced the arbitration agreement’s class action waiver and sent plaintiff’s putative ERISA class action to individual arbitration with relief
Third Circuit Resuscitates Claims Against University 403(b) Plan Fiduciaries
Over the past several years, the ERISA plaintiffs’ bar has targeted university-sponsored 403(b) plans, arguing that the plan fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties and engaged in prohibited transactions in connection with offering certain investment options and the administrative fees associated with such plans. Among other things, they have argued that the plan fiduciaries offered too
The United States Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Hospitals on “Church Plan” ERISA Exemption
The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of religiously-affiliated hospitals and healthcare organizations in holding that a pension plan need not be established by a church in order to qualify for ERISA’s church plan exemption. Petitioners are religiously affiliated non-profit healthcare organizations appealing decisions by the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuit Courts of
Federal District Court Tosses $450 Million Retiree Health Care Suit Against GM
A federal district court in Michigan dismissed a breach-of-contract suit against General Motors over a $450 million payment for retiree medical benefits. Int’l Union, UAW v. Gen. Motors, LLC, No. 10-11366, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173793 (E.D. Mich. Dec. 10, 2013). As part of a settlement agreement with the UAW in 2007, General Motors
Are Your Conversations Privileged under ERISA?
Under ERISA, plan participants and beneficiaries have the right to obtain information pertaining to their benefit entitlements and the operation of the plans in which they participate. Sometimes these rights compromise the protections of the attorney-client privilege. Under the fiduciary exception, “an employer acting in the capacity of ERISA fiduciary is disabled from asserting the attorney-client privilege against plan beneficiaries on matters of plan administration.” U.S. v. Mett, 178 F.3d 1058, 1063 (9th Cir. 1999). Although courts have recognized that there are circumstances where the fiduciary exception is inapplicable, it is often difficult to predict in advance whether and when attorneys can provide advice that will be immune from disclosure, and there is an ever-present risk that advice to fiduciaries regarding plan administration will be subject to the fiduciary exception. For example, in Stephan v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America, 697 F.3d 917 (9th Cir. 2012), the Ninth Circuit recently analyzed the fiduciary exception and held that attorney-created memoranda were subject to the fiduciary exception because they were created upon request of the benefits claim decision maker before the final benefit appeal, and dealt with matters of plan interpretation.