The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to grant certiorari to review the Fourth Circuit’s decision in RJR Pension Investment, et al. v. Tatum, 761 F.3d 363 (4th Cir. 2014). As we previously reported here, a divided panel of the Fourth Circuit held that, because the plaintiff proved that the plan fiduciaries acted imprudently
Articles
View From Proskauer: The Availability of Surcharge as Relief for Individual ERISA Fiduciary Breach Claims
By Aaron Feuer on
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, a division among the lower courts on whether surcharge is available to plaintiffs seeking monetary recovery for personal loss as opposed to a loss to the plan.
A Court’s Review of a Disability Benefit Claim May Hinge on the Meaning “Satisfactory to Us”
By Joseph Clark on
Twenty-five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that courts should review an ERISA participant’s claim for benefits under a de novo standard of review unless the plan gives the plan fiduciary discretionary authority to determine eligibility for benefits or to construe the terms of the plan. Since then, courts have considered what type of plan language suffices to grant plan fiduciaries discretionary authority to warrant the more deferential arbitrary and capricious standard of review.
IRS to Amend Cafeteria Plan Regulations to Facilitate Enrollment in Marketplace Coverage
On Thursday, September 18, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Notice 2014-55, which expands the cafeteria plan “change in status” rules to allow plans to offer employees an option to revoke their elections for employer-sponsored health coverage to purchase a qualified health plan through a Health Insurance Marketplace (“Marketplace”). The notice is effective immediately and will appear in IRB 2014-41, to be published Oct. 6, 2014.
The notice addresses two specific situations in which a plan could allow an employee to revoke a cafeteria plan election (other than a health FSA election): due to enrollment in the Marketplace; and due to a reduction in hours of service. This should be a welcome relief to employers that may have been struggling with how to allow employees to change coverage from under the employer’s plan to a Marketplace or other group health plan.