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Benefits
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April 16, 2025
IRS Owes Worker A Refund On 401(k) Loan, Suit Says
The IRS is refusing to send money back to a worker who said a paid-off 401(k) loan was mistakenly counted as income in his tax return, according to a suit filed in Missouri federal court.
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April 16, 2025
Pa. Judge Cuts Atty Fees To $950K In ERISA Deal Final OK
A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that counsel representing two union elevator industry workers should be awarded $950,000 in legal fees, down from the attorneys' initial request of $1.7 million for settling a nearly 30,000-member class action over the management of a union 401(k) plan.
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April 16, 2025
UnitedHealthcare Owes $1M Medicare Shortfall, Hospital Says
UnitedHealthcare owes Connecticut's Danbury Hospital more than $1 million after bungling local Medicare Advantage cost calculations and refusing to correct its payment errors after the hospital provided notice of the problem, the healthcare facility alleged in a state court lawsuit.
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April 15, 2025
Google Failed To Pay $2M In Commissions, Ex-Sales Rep Says
A former Google Cloud unit salesperson alleged the company blocked him from receiving $2 million in commissions after he landed a $35 million contract with Otis Elevator and fired him while he underwent cancer treatment to avoid paying out nearly $3 million in life insurance benefits.
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April 15, 2025
Food Service Co. Can't Escape Tobacco Surcharge Suit
A food service company can't dodge a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully charges tobacco users an additional fee to obtain health insurance, an Illinois federal judge ruled Tuesday, rejecting the company's assertion that federal benefits law doesn't require retroactive reimbursement for completing a cessation program.
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April 15, 2025
39 AGs Urge Congress To Ban PBM Pharmacy Ownership
A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general have urged congressional leadership to pass legislation banning pharmacy benefit managers, their parent companies and affiliates from owning and operating pharmacies in order to boost competition and fairness.
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April 15, 2025
UBH Can't Nix Class Status In Coverage Guidelines Suit
United Behavioral Health can't unwind class certification in a lawsuit claiming it unlawfully imposed overly restrictive guidelines for coverage of residential mental health treatments, a California federal judge ruled, saying the group's parameters could be adjusted to meet a recent Ninth Circuit standard.
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April 15, 2025
Anthem Strikes Deal To End Mental Health Class Action
Anthem agreed to settle a class action from participants in employee health plans the insurer administered who alleged that coverage denials for inpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatments violated federal benefits and metal health parity laws, the parties told a New York federal court Tuesday.
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April 15, 2025
Research Co. Inks $7.15M Deal To End Stock Plan Suit
A genomic research company agreed to pay $7.15 million to resolve a suit claiming it shorted former workers enrolled in an employee stock ownership plan when it required them to sell their shares back to the company, according to filings in Massachusetts federal court.
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April 14, 2025
Giant Eagle Agrees To Settle Ex-Worker's ERISA Suit
Grocery store chain Giant Eagle Inc. has reached a settlement with a former employee resolving a proposed Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action accusing the company of wasting millions of dollars of retirement plan participants' funds, according to a notice filed Monday.
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April 14, 2025
Workers Want Countertop Co. Found Liable For Lapsed Benefits
Participants in a countertop contractor's employee benefit plan urged a Georgia federal court Friday to grant them a partial win in their proposed class action alleging All Concepts LLC, its related home services company and two of its fiduciaries' failure to send premium payments to insurers meant the plans couldn't pay their benefits.
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April 14, 2025
Ark. PBM Regulation Violates ERISA, Teamsters Fund Says
An Arkansas insurance regulation forcing health plans to turn over information about reimbursement rates negotiated by pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, conflicts with federal benefits law, a Teamsters healthcare fund claimed, urging an Illinois federal court to block the state from enforcing the rule.
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April 14, 2025
Judge Threatens Penalties Over Late Report In Fla. Fee Suit
A Florida federal judge threatened parties in a federal proposed class action over excessive fees charged to maintain retirement savings plans, warning there will be sanctions if they do not respond to an order to show why they failed to timely file a case management report.
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April 14, 2025
7th Circ. Won't Transfer Honeywell Pension Suit To NC
The Seventh Circuit turned down Honeywell's bid to transfer a retiree's proposed class action alleging pension plan miscalculations from Illinois to North Carolina, finding the aerospace manufacturer's request for extraordinary appellate court relief was not justified.
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April 11, 2025
USDA, White Farmers Clash Over Disaster Aid Remedy
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and a group of white Texas farmers are clashing over how the agency should remedy its allegedly unlawful prioritization of minority groups as a part of a distribution scheme for disaster assistance and pandemic relief programs.
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April 11, 2025
3rd Circ. Urged To Rethink Teamsters Fund's Win In $39M Row
Affiliates of a bankrupt dairy business are urging the Third Circuit to hold a full court rehearing on its split panel decision that a Teamsters union pension fund can sue them to enforce a $39 million settlement, arguing the law "simply does not say" what the majority ruled it says.
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April 11, 2025
Ex-BofA Worker Seeks Class Status Over Unpaid PTO
Bank of America applies the same nationwide policy of not paying unused vacation time when employees part ways with the company, a former lending officer said, urging a California federal court to grant her case class certification.
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April 11, 2025
EPA Workers Allege Discrimination Over Indefinite Leave
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees dedicated to working on issues facing poor and minority communities exposed to disproportionate pollution say in a new complaint that the EPA is discriminating against them by forcing them into indefinite leave.
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April 11, 2025
Mich. Co. Kept Truckers In Dark About Healthcare, Union Says
A Detroit trucking company's union contract required it to provide its workers with health insurance, but the company didn't take the necessary steps to ensure that employees signed up, a Teamsters local told a Michigan federal judge, seeking to compel the company to provide the benefit.
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April 10, 2025
Elevance Beats Teacher's Bias Suit Over Weight Loss Drugs
A Maine federal judge tossed a teacher's proposed class action claiming health insurer Elevance committed disability discrimination by declining to cover weight loss medication to treat obesity, finding she hadn't shown bias was behind her health plan's refusal to pay for the drugs.
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April 10, 2025
Amazon Worker's Brother Denied Win In Life Insurance Fight
The children of an Amazon worker can proceed with their claim that their uncle exercised "undue influence" to get named as a beneficiary on their father's life insurance plan, an Ohio federal judge said Thursday, noting the Employee Retirement Income Security Act did not preempt the allegations.
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April 10, 2025
Congressional Bill Would Amend FMLA To Bar Clawbacks
Employers would be forbidden to recover health insurance costs from workers who use the federal Family and Medical Leave Act and then choose not to return to work under a bill introduced in Congress.Â
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April 10, 2025
Ill. Ambulance Co. Accused Of Denying Overtime Pay
An Illinois ambulance services company runs afoul of state and federal wage and hour laws by paying employees overtime wages only when they work more than 80 hours in a two-week period, thus denying the workers some of their overtime pay, a proposed class and collective action filed in federal court said.
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April 10, 2025
Kroger Customers Get Certification In Prescription Billing Suit
An Ohio federal judge certified three classes of Kroger pharmacy customers claiming they paid inflated co-pays for insured prescriptions, reasoning that the customers' claims raised common issues of law.
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April 09, 2025
'Evasive' Unions Told To List Fired Probationary Workers
The California federal judge who ordered the reinstatement of many fired probationary federal workers before the U.S. Supreme Court stayed his ruling on Wednesday ordered the public sector unions representing federal staffers to provide a list of their booted members, calling their claims that the information would be difficult to produce "evasive."
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Loss Causation Ruling Departs From Usual Securities Cases
A California federal court recently dismissed Ramos v. Comerica, finding that the allegations failed to establish loss causation, but the reasoning is in tension with the pleading-stage approaches generally followed by both courts and economists in securities fraud litigation, say Jesse Jensen and Aasiya Glover at Bernstein Litowitz.
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.