Article provides a summary of four recent federal court decisions addressing: [1] whether a reduction in hours worked was a qualifying event entitling a participant to COBRA coverage [Green v. Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners (D. Md.); vacated on other grounds]; [2] whether a same-sex spouse had standing to assert a claim even though he was never a beneficiary under his spouse's group health plan [Sacchi v. Luciani (D.N.J.)]; [3] whether COBRA penalties for failure to provide the COBRA notice should be imposed on the plan sponsor where the participant mistakenly received free coverage [Cole v. Trinity Health Corp. (8th Cir.)]; and [4] a COBRA class action settlement with a record settlement of $1 million for failing to provide COBRA notices [Slipchenko v. Brunel Energy (S.D. Tex.)].  MORE >>