The Fifth Circuit concluded that a plan’s three-year contractual limitations period began to accrue when a beneficiary received a letter in 2008 that prominently displayed on the first page the monthly earnings used to calculate his long term disability benefits. The Court held that the claim was time-barred because the beneficiary failed to bring his … Continue Reading
The First Circuit held that a plaintiff failed to timely exhaust her administrative remedies under a long-term disability plan because the plan’s 180-day time limit for submitting appeals commenced on the date the plaintiff received notice of the decision that it was going to terminate her long-term disability benefits, not the actual date her benefits … Continue Reading
The Fifth Circuit held that the statute of limitations for an ERISA § 502(c)(1) claim—a claim for penalties for failure to provide certain documents within thirty days of a written request—was subject to a one-year statute of limitations. In so holding, the Court borrowed the statute of limitations from the Louisiana Civil Code for claims alleging … Continue Reading
The Eleventh Circuit ruled that ERISA’s six-year statute of repose can be tolled by the parties even though it is a statute of repose. During pre-litigation negotiations between the U.S. Department of Labor and a trustee of an employee stock ownership plan, the parties signed a series of tolling agreements, which delayed the filing of any … Continue Reading
A federal district court in California held that a complaint filed by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers that challenged pension plan trustees’ decision to make certain investments was filed five days too late and thus barred by ERISA’s six-year statute of limitations. In so holding, the court ruled that the limitations period … Continue Reading
The Third Circuit recently held that ERISA administrative appeal denial letters must include plan-imposed time limits for commencing a lawsuit challenging the claim denial, and the failure to provide such notice warranted setting aside the plan’s limitation period. Mirza v. Ins. Adm’r. of Am., Inc., 2015 WL 5024159 (3d Cir. Aug. 26, 2015). The ERISA … Continue Reading
ERISA plan fiduciaries charged with responsibility for selecting, monitoring or removing plan investment options should pay close attention to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Tibble v. Edison Intl., 135 S. Ct. 1823 (2015). In that decision, the Court ruled that ERISA’s duty of prudence involves “a continuing duty to monitor investments and remove … Continue Reading
Plan trustees often look to settle ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought against them as a way to put the past behind them. Assuming there is enough fiduciary liability insurance coverage available to pay the proposed settlement sum, the trustees may be prepared to put aside their desire to vindicate themselves for a challenged course of … Continue Reading
The Second Circuit recently held (in a summary order) that plan participants’ claims alleging violations of ERISA’s disclosure rules in connection with a cash balance conversion were barred by the statute of limitations. In so ruling, the Court explained that because the participants’ claims that defendants breached their fiduciary duties by mischaracterizing the new plan’s … Continue Reading
A federal district court in Minnesota found that participants in a defined benefit pension plan had standing to assert claims that defendants breached their fiduciary duties by, among other things, shifting to an equities-only investment strategy that resulted in the plan becoming significantly underfunded and thereby increasing the risk of default. … Continue Reading
Plan administrators sometimes are confronted with claims that appear untimely, but nevertheless focus solely on the substantive issue raised by the claim. A recent ruling from a federal district court in New Jersey suggests that the failure to address procedural issues may result in a finding that such defenses have been waived. In Becknell v. … Continue Reading
The Ninth Circuit in Gordon v. Deloitte & Touche, LLP Group Long Term Disability Plan, 2014 WL 1394962 (9th Cir. Apr. 11, 2014) affirmed summary judgment in favor of a long term disability plan on the ground that the participant, Bridget Gordon, failed to file her action within the applicable limitations period. Gordon had been … Continue Reading
The First Circuit recently held, in line with other circuits, that the statute of limitations for a claim of underpayment of long-term disability benefits does not accrue with each monthly benefit payment made, but instead accrues at the time the underpayment is made known to the participant when he receives his first “miscalculated” benefit award. … Continue Reading
Defendants have recently received three favorable decisions involving contractual and statutory limitations defenses. In each case, a federal court held that claims for benefits under ERISA plans were time-barred. Costa v. Astoria Fed. Sav. and Loan Ass’n, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14292 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 4, 2014); Paulus v. Isola USA Corp. Ret. Plan, 2014 U.S. … Continue Reading
The Eleventh Circuit recently dismissed a participant’s fiduciary breach claims against SunTrust’s 401(k) plan fiduciary committee members on the ground that the claims for imprudently selecting certain investment options was time barred by ERISA’s six-year statute of limitations. Fuller v. Suntrust Banks, Inc., 2014 WL 718309 (11th Cir. Feb. 26, 2014). Plaintiff Barbara Fuller argued … Continue Reading
Having settled into the new year, we reflect on decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 that are likely to have a significant impact in the world of pension and welfare employee benefits and, in some cases, already have had such an impact. The issues addressed by the Supreme Court are wide ranging and … Continue Reading
A federal district court in New Jersey granted summary judgment in favor of New Jersey Bac Health Fund, finding the limitations provision set forth in the Fund’s SPD to be reasonable. Barriero v. NJ Bac Health Fund, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181277 (D.N.J. Dec. 27, 2013). Under the welfare plan limitations provision, participants seeking to … Continue Reading
Resolving a split among the Courts of Appeal, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the Second Circuit in finding enforceable a limitations provision in a long term disability ERISA plan that set forth the length of the limitations period as well as when the period commenced. The plan at issue required participants to file suit for … Continue Reading
In Stargel et al. v. SunTrust Banks Inc. et al., No. 1:12-cv-03822, (N.D. Ga. Aug. 8, 2013), a Georgia federal judge dismissed a putative class action against Suntrust Banks. Among the claims it dismissed was a fiduciary breach claim based on defendant’s failure to remove its own allegedly underperforming funds in its 401(k) plan. More … Continue Reading
Last year, we reported on how the federal discovery rule – pursuant to which claims for benefits do not accrue until the participant could reasonably have discovered the claim – can require plans to defend the merits of dated claims. In that article, we noted that efforts to protect plans had taken the form of … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court announced on April 15, 2013 that it will take up the question of when the statute of limitations period may begin to run for filing a legal action for long-term disability benefits under an ERISA plan. Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co., U.S., No. 12-729, cert. granted 4/15/13.… Continue Reading
In Raymond v. Callebaut, 2013 WL 150232 (3d Cir. Jan. 15, 2013) (summary order), the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that dismissed plaintiff’s claim seeking benefits due under the terms of a 401(k) plan because plaintiff’s claim was filed more than fourteen years after it had accrued. Plaintiff’s claim was based on an … Continue Reading
In David v. Alphin, 2013 WL 142072 (4th Cir. 2013), plaintiffs alleged that defendants engaged in prohibited transactions and breached their fiduciary duties by selecting and maintaining Bank-affiliated mutual funds in the investment menu for the Bank’s 401(k) Plan and the Bank’s separate defined benefit pension plan. The Fourth Circuit affirmed dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims. … Continue Reading
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