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Benefits
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April 07, 2025
Verizon, State Street Say Pension Annuity Suit Claims Fall Flat
Verizon Communications and its independent fiduciary State Street urged a New York federal judge to toss a proposed class action from Verizon retirees who challenged the conversion of their federally regulated pension benefits into annuity insurance contracts, arguing the allegations lacked standing and failed to state a claim.
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April 07, 2025
Former Workers Say X Corp. Refuses To Arbitrate Their Claims
A group of former Twitter employees is trying to force the company now known as X to arbitrate the workers' challenges to allegedly unlawful actions taken after Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform, claiming the social media giant is preventing their cases from moving forward by refusing to pay the full arbitration fees.
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April 07, 2025
Ohio Hospital Illegally Conducted Mass Layoffs, Workers Say
An Ohio hospital abruptly laid off more than 100 workers without notice and failed to pay many of those employees their final paychecks, a proposed class action filed in federal court said.
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April 07, 2025
Conn. Judge Pauses 'Staggering' Hospital Data Subpoena
A Connecticut judge temporarily paused a subpoena seeking what a health nonprofit called "a staggering amount" of confidential patient data by a proposed class of Constitution State residents accusing Hartford HealthCare Corp. of monopolizing the state's healthcare industry, stating that the court must review the subpoena first.
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April 07, 2025
Whole Foods To Settle Bonus Manipulation Suit
Whole Foods has agreed to resolve a lawsuit claiming the grocery chain rigged an employee bonus program to reduce payouts to workers, according to a filing in D.C. federal court.
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April 07, 2025
Woody Allen Resolves Private Chef's Military Leave Suit
Woody Allen struck a deal with his former private chef to resolve his suit accusing the filmmaker of abruptly firing him after he took time off to participate in military exercises as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, a filing in New York federal court said.
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April 04, 2025
Feds Say George Santos Should Spend 7 Years Behind Bars
Federal prosecutors said Friday that former U.S. Rep. George Santos should spend 87 months — more than seven years — behind bars for his fraud and aggravated identity theft, a sentence that Santos' lawyers called "absurd," arguing instead that he shouldn't spend more than two years in prison.
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April 04, 2025
Split DC Circ. Denies Calif. Subsidies For Border Hospitals
A split D.C. Circuit panel on Friday found it was not unconstitutional for California to exclude hospitals bordering the state from a program distributing supplemental payments to providers that serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
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April 04, 2025
US Bank Defeats Class Cert. In Early Retiree Benefits Suit
A Minnesota federal judge on Friday rejected a bid to certify a class action for more than 2,000 U.S. Bank retirees accusing the bank of unlawfully reducing monthly pension payments for those taking early retirement, finding the proposed class had differing concerns that blocked classwide resolution.
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April 04, 2025
HHS Drops 11th Circ. Fight Over ACA Trans Rule Freeze
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreed to drop its bid to overturn an order blocking it from enforcing regulations that extend the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination provisions to transgender individuals against Florida organizations, according to filings with the Eleventh Circuit.
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April 04, 2025
Ohio AG Takes Trans Care Limits Bid To State Justices
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has taken his bid to reinstate limits on gender-affirming care for transgender youths to the state's highest court and wants the law's enforcement to continue throughout his appeal.
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April 04, 2025
2nd Circ. Won't Revisit Benefit Math In Colgate ERISA Suit
The Second Circuit refused Friday to rethink the methodology Colgate-Palmolive must use to recalculate retirement benefits for pensioners who said they were underpaid to the tune of $300 million, saying the issues raised by the company had already been decided.
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April 04, 2025
No Basis To Upend Time Bar On Veterans' Claims, DOJ Says
Veterans challenging a federal appeals court's ruling that a six-year statute of limitations applies to retroactive combat-related special compensation that Congress has authorized can't show lawmakers intended otherwise, the federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court.
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April 04, 2025
Masimo Shareholder Vote Suit Against Founder Moved To Calif.
A New York federal judge has transferred to California Masimo Corp.'s suit against its founder over allegations he manipulated a shareholder vote at the medical technology company, finding that the "locus of operative facts" warrants the move.
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April 04, 2025
Pension Fund Miscalculated Co.'s $23M Exit Fee, Judge Says
A Teamsters pension fund erred when it determined that a concrete company owed $23 million for withdrawing from the plan, an Illinois federal judge ruled, saying an arbitrator needs to reassess the calculation and give the employer proper credit for other payments made.
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April 04, 2025
Pension Annuity Rulings Leave Attorneys Looking For Clarity
Benefits attorneys say they'll be watching the circuits, and perhaps the nation's highest court, for clarity after recent divergent decisions in cases accusing defense and aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin and aluminum giant Alcoa of violating federal benefits law by converting pension benefits into annuity insurance contracts.
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April 03, 2025
Optum, Express Scripts Want Judge Ousted From Opioid MDL
Pharmacy benefit managers Optum and Express Scripts say the Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict opioid litigation should recuse himself because he "regularly communicates" with plaintiffs' attorneys in the litigation and is biased in favor of plaintiffs, according to a motion filed Wednesday.
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April 03, 2025
TV Star Dr. Oz Confirmed As New Medicare, Medicaid Leader
The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 53 to 43, along party lines, to confirm former talk show host and surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz to be the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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April 03, 2025
Home Depot Workers Must Pay $39K Costs In ERISA Suit
A Georgia federal judge has said Home Depot workers must pay more than $39,000 in legal fees to the home improvement retailer after the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision to end the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit in Home Depot's favor in August.
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April 03, 2025
2nd Circ. Judge Thinks Drug Price Fight Sounds Like Antitrust
A Second Circuit judge on Thursday suggested that the federal government may be insulated from claims over its demand for lower prices for Medicare and Medicaid recipients, musing that Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s constitutional challenge to an Inflation Reduction Act provision sounds more like an antitrust allegation.
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April 03, 2025
7th Circ. Doubts SuperValu's Bid To Lower $22.5M Pension Bill
The Seventh Circuit appeared Thursday to lean against a grocery store's effort to lower its $22.5 million union pension bill, with multiple judges challenging the employer's argument that stores sold months before a complete fund withdrawal should be excluded from its annual payment calculation.
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April 03, 2025
'No Serious Question' Federal Firings Broke Law, Justices Told
Federal employee unions and advocacy groups urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to reject the Trump administration's bid to pause a California court order reinstating tens of thousands of probationary workers fired from six agencies, arguing the government can't escape self-inflicted harms brought on by its allegedly unlawful actions.
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April 03, 2025
Ex-Weil Atty To Co-Lead Sidley's Employee Benefits Team
Sidley Austin LLP said Wednesday that a former Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP partner will co-lead its employee benefits and executive compensation practice from New York.
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April 03, 2025
Jackson Walker Adds Chamberlain Hrdlicka Labor Duo In Texas
Jackson Walker LLP has strengthened the firm's labor and employment offerings with a pair of lawyers in Houston who came aboard from Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry.
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April 03, 2025
2nd Circ. Revives IBM Retirees' Mortality Data Fight
The Second Circuit on Thursday reopened a proposed class action accusing IBM of shorting retirees on pension payments by using outdated mortality data, saying the trial court should've sought clarity about certain documents before tossing the case.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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A Guide To Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Determinations
With final regulations under the Secure Act requiring 401(k) retirement benefits for long-term, part-time employees expected soon, Amy Sheridan and David Guadagnoli at Sullivan & Worcester look at how the proposed rules would shift the risk-reward calculus on excluding categories of employees, and what plan sponsors would need to consider when designing retirement plans.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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Series
After Chevron: ERISA Challenges To Watch
The end of Chevron deference makes the outcome of Employee Retirement Income Security Act regulatory challenges more uncertain as courts become final arbiters of pending lawsuits about ESG investments, the definition of a fiduciary, unallocated pension forfeitures and discrimination in healthcare plans, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.
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Justices' Intent Witness Ruling May Be Useful For Defense Bar
At first glance, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Diaz v. U.S. decision, allowing experts to testify to the mental state of criminal defendants in federal court, gives prosecutors a new tool, but creative white collar defense counsel may be able to use the same tool to their own advantage, say Jack Sharman and Rachel Bragg at Lightfoot Franklin.
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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Why Calif. Courts Are Split On ERISA Forfeited Contributions
A split between two California federal courts, in deciding whether an employer’s use of forfeited retirement plan contributions to offset future costs violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, suggests employers should soon expect more ERISA cases to advance this novel legal theory when making anti-inurement and breach of fiduciary duty claims, says Blake Crohan at Alston & Bird.
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Series
Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer
When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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American Airlines ESG Ruling Could Alter ERISA Landscape
The Spence v. American Airlines ESG trial, speeding toward a conclusion in a Texas federal court, could foretell a dramatic expansion in ERISA liability, with plan sponsors vulnerable to claims that they didn't foresee short-term dips in stock prices, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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How To Comply With Chicago's New Paid Leave Ordinance
Chicago's new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance went into effect earlier this month, so employers subject to the new rules should update leave policies, train supervisors and deliver notice as they seek compliance, say Alison Crane and Sarah Gasperini at Jackson Lewis.
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Dueling Calif. Rulings Offer Insight On 401(k) Forfeiture Suits
Two recent decisions from California federal courts regarding novel Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims around 401(k) forfeitures provide early tea leaves for companies that may face similar litigation, offering reasons for both optimism and concern over the future direction of the law, say Ashley Johnson and Jennafer Tryck at Gibson Dunn.