In the latest chapter of the Amara saga, the Second Circuit recently affirmed the district court’s class-wide order to reform CIGNA’s cash balance plan, as a means to remedy what the district court previously found to be CIGNA’s breach of its statutory notice obligations.
Remedies
Ninth Circuit Breathes Life Into Participant’s Claim for Surcharge
By Aaron Feuer on
A panel of the Ninth Circuit withdrew its earlier opinion and has now joined other circuits in finding that the equitable remedy of surcharge is available for participants seeking recovery of personal losses as opposed to losses suffered by the plan. Gabriel v. Alaska Elec. Pension Fund, 2014 WL 7139686 (9th Cir. Dec. 16,…
Second Circuit Rejects Plan’s Claim For Reimbursement From Another Plan
By Aaron Feuer on
Where an ERISA plan specifically sets forth in the plan document its rights to reimbursement/subrogation vis-à-vis a plan participant then there is no requirement that recovery be conditioned on the plan being able to trace the recovered monies to the original benefit payment. Under such circumstances, the plan is considered to have an equitable lien…
District Courts Continue to Reject the Ninth Circuit’s Limitation on Surcharge
By Aaron Feuer on
We previously reported (here) that the Ninth Circuit stands alone in expressly limiting the availability of surcharge to cases involving loss to, or unjust enrichment at the expense of, the plan (as opposed to being available to a participant claiming personal loss flowing from a fiduciary breach). See Gabriel v. Alaska Electrical Pension…