The Ninth Circuit recently issued a pair of decisions clarifying how the rules governing withdrawal liability apply to employers in certain industries. In Walker Specialty Const., Inc. v. Bd. of Trs. of the Constr. Indus. & Laborers Joint Pension Tr. for S. Nev., No. 24-1560, 2026 WL 21743 (9th Cir. Jan. 5, 2026), the
ERISA Litigation
Fourth Circuit Overturns Class Certification of 401(k) Plan Investment Loss Case
By Russell Hirschhorn, Myron Rumeld & Jessica Wang on
In a ruling that upends conventional thinking on the standards for class certification of claims brought under ERISA section 502(a)(2), the Fourth Circuit overturned class certification of a lawsuit challenging the selection of 401(k) defined contribution plan investment funds. Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc., 2026 WL 667917 (4th Cir. Mar. 10, 2026). Drawing a…
Seventh Circuit Holds Asset Sale Does Not Require Exclusion of Contributions from Withdrawal Liability Calculation
By Neil V. Shah & Sydney Juliano on
When an employer withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan, its maximum annual payment is based on all contributions it was required to remit to the plan. In SuperValu Inc. v. United Food and Commercial Workers Unions and Employers Midwest Pension Fund, 155 F.4th 913 (7th Cir. Oct. 9, 2025), the Seventh Circuit affirmed that…
Third Circuit Holds No Deference Due Where Administrator Fails to Articulate an Interpretation of an Ambiguous Plan Term
By Neil V. Shah & Alex Scharr on
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…