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Free Newsletters
“BenefitsLink continues to be the most valuable resource we have at the firm.”
-- An attorney subscriber
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18 Matching News Items |
| 1. |
Is Your Employer's Retirement Plan Imposing a Marriage Penalty?
Cohen Milstein 
June 22, 2022
"[A] growing number of lawsuits allege that companies are failing to ensure that pensions are actuarially equivalent -- and specifically that the companies' failures are systematically underpaying married couples. This means that you and your surviving spouse could be the subject of a 'marriage penalty' resulting in a substantial loss of benefits.... Here's what you need to know."
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| 2. |
Escalating Litigation of Actuarial Equivalence in Taft-Hartley Plans: No End in Sight
Cohen Milstein
July 27, 2021
"To date, eleven class action lawsuits have been filed asserting ERISA violations for the failure to pay actuarially equivalent pension benefits. To date, all lawsuits in this area have involved corporate pension plans. The vast majority survived motions to dismiss in jurisdictions around the country[.]"
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| 3. |
AT&T Workers Challenging Pensions Keep California Venue
Cohen Milstein
Apr. 11, 2021
"Six former workers ... [claim] AT&T shortchanges the pensions of workers who retire before age 65 or choose pension formats that pay benefits to their surviving spouses after their deaths.... AT&T sought to transfer the case to the Northern District of Texas in January, arguing that the plan is administered in Texas and is governed by the laws of that state." [Eliason v. AT&T Inc., No. 19-6232 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 8, 2021)]
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| 4. |
New York Life Sued Over 401(k) In-House Funds, Default Investment
Cohen Milstein
Mar. 10, 2021
"[The suit] accuses the insurer of improperly profiting off its workers' retirement savings by defaulting certain retirement plan participants into an undiversified general account insurance fund. [The suit alleges that the] fund -- called the Fixed Dollar Account -- isn't a permissible 401(k) default investment[.]" [Krohnengold v. New York Life Ins. Co., No. 21-1778 (S.D.N.Y. complaint filed Mar. 2, 2021)]
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| 5. |
The Right to Jury Trial in ERISA Actions (PDF)
Cohen Milstein, via Bloomberg Law
Nov. 8, 2020
"[C]ourts largely agree that ... an ERISA action is typically not subject to ajury trial. However, one circuit court (and several district courts) have permitted jury trials in instances where the litigants seek legal relief (as opposed to equitable relief) such as personal liability for losses."
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| 6. |
Death by Paperwork? ESG Investing Probe Hints at Onerous Pile-On
Cohen Milstein
July 2, 2020
"A series of form letters sent to retirement plans hints at how the [DOL] may enforce a new requirement that sponsors justify socially conscious investments. One such letter ... presses plan administrators to provide 13 types of supporting documents, including: the names, addresses, and duties of those responsible for making investment decisions, proxy voting policies, and myriad financial statements associated with the plan design."
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| 7. |
Trust Company Hit with Class Suit Over $106 Million Stock Plan Deal
Cohen Milstein
Apr. 16, 2020
"The class action complaint ... claims GreatBanc signed off on the deal without performing adequate due diligence.... At issue is a 2015 transaction in which Triad -- a producer of custom wood furniture and fixtures -- became 100% employee-owned through the creation of an [ESOP]." [Smith v. GreatBanc Trust Co., No. 20-2350 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed Apr. 15, 2020)]
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| 8. |
Latest Cigna Case Illustrates Changing Landscape of ERISA Litigation
Cohen Milstein
Feb. 4, 2020
"[Plaintiffs allege] that Cigna set up a complex web of processes and procedures which has resulted in providers to be reimbursed for only a fraction of their incurred charges, rather than the amount they should be reimbursed under the plans administered by Cigna. The providers allege that these violations are compounded, because Cigna withdraws the entire dollar amount of the healthcare provider's claim from the trust funds of self-funded plans, but only pays a small portion of those funds to the provider and pockets the rest." [Advanced Gynecology and Laparoscopy of North Jersey. v. Cigna Health and Life Ins., No. 19-22234, (D.N.J. complaint filed Dec. 31, 2019]
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| 9. |
$60M Settlement Reached in SSM Health Care Corp. Litigation Over 'Church Plan' Status
Cohen Milstein
June 7, 2019
"The settlement requires SSM Health Care Corp. to fully fund its employee retirement plan for 10 years, deposit $15 million per year in the plan from 2019 to 2022, and make $115 payments to workers who received their retirement savings in a lump sum. The plan's funding status was a point of contention during the case's three years in court, with SSM Health workers saying the plan was underfunded by roughly $813 million due to its official classification as a church-affiliated plan[.]"
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| 10. |
BlackRock Employees Seek Class Certification in $100M ERISA Suit
Cohen Milstein
June 6, 2019
"Employees of BlackRock Inc. urged a California federal judge on Monday to allow them to proceed as two classes in their lawsuit alleging the investment firm violated [ERISA] and cost retirement plan participants more than $100 million. [Plaintiffs] asked U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam to certify one class of employees who participated in BlackRock's collective trust investment funds and another class who participated in the company's 401(k) plan, known as the BlackRock Retirement Savings Plan."
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| 11. |
BlackRock Fights $100M ERISA Fiduciary Suit
Cohen Milstein
Mar. 15, 2019
"Plaintiffs Charles Baird and Lauren Slayton hit BlackRock Inc., its subsidiaries and board members, along with BlackRock's investment consultant Mercer Investment Counseling, with a sprawling, 134-page, 11 count amended complaint in August. The suit alleges with the aid of Mercer, BlackRock mismanaged retirement plans by charging excessive hidden fees, selecting investments that charged up to 871 percent in premiums, violating ERISA and costing participants hundreds of millions of dollars in losses."
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| 12. |
$60M Deal Gets Green Light in SSM Health 'Church Plan' Suit
Cohen Milstein
Jan. 18, 2019
"If approved, the settlement would require SSM Health to commit to fully funding its retirement plan for 10 years. The deal would also force SSM Health to pay $15 million to the plan each year from 2019 to 2022, bringing the hospital system's total settlement-imposed plan contributions to $60 million."
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| 13. |
Watch These ERISA Cases in 2019
Cohen Milstein
Jan. 2, 2019
"A number of vexing issues facing ERISA practitioners came to a head in 2018 and are primed to be resolved in the coming year. This article will examine the cases raising these issues, and the impact their resolution in the coming year will have on retirees and the retirement industry."
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| 14. |
Employee Stock Ownership Plans: Vulnerable to Abuse?
Cohen Milstein
May 31, 2018
"Even though ESOPs are technically considered to be retirement plans existing for the benefit of employees, the assets of these plans can be -- and often are -- used to enrich the management of the company, to create liquidity for existing shareholders, and to serve as a lucrative 'exit strategy' for company founders. This can result in significant conflicts of interest, between the management of the company and its employees, and between existing shareholders and the employees who are 'buying' the shares via an ESOP."
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| 15. |
Ascension Health Gets OK for $29.5M Deal to End ERISA Suit
Cohen Milstein
Jan. 17, 2018
"The settlement requires Ascension to guarantee $29.5 million of benefits to class members in the event that trust assets in the plan dip below that number. Judge Feinerman noted that the settlement came after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, which extended ERISA's 'church plan' exemption to any benefit plan maintained by a church affiliate even if it wasn't originally established by a church."
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| 16. |
Participants Seek Final Approval of $98.3 Million Settlement of 'Church Plan' Case with Bon Secours Health System
Cohen Milstein
Oct. 17, 2017
"Thousands of class members affected by seven Bon Secours Health System Inc. pension plans ... asked a Maryland federal court [on Oct. 13] to give final approval to a settlement that would require the health care organization to provide $98.3 million to bolster funding. The settlement agreement calls for the hospital to contribute $14 million a year for the next seven years to the seven plans at issue ... In addition, the settlement calls for the hospital to pay another $300,000 to benefit about 500 people who have unique circumstances under one of the plans." [Hodges v. Bon Secours Health System, Inc., No. 16-1079 (D. Md., proposed settlement submitted Oct. 13, 2017)]
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| 17. |
St. Joseph's Nurses Get Initial OK for $42M ERISA Settlement
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, via Trial
Oct. 8, 2017
"Nurses with New Jersey's St. Joseph's Healthcare System won preliminary court approval for a $42 million settlement of claims that the system underfunded their pension plan -- a deal that was reached after the U.S. Supreme Court said church-affiliated entities are exempt from [ERISA]."
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| 18. |
Investigation of Fireman's Fund Termination of Retiree Medical Benefits
Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson P.C.
Oct. 19, 2009
Excerpt: At the end of September, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company ('FFIC') notified most of its retirees that it intends to discontinue providing medical benefits for the overwhelming majority of its retirees effective January 1, 2010. Cohen Milstein is currently investigating whether FFIC is permitted to make those changes.
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