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South Florida Pension Fund Sues FIGS for Disappointing Financial Performance

"A South Florida police officers and firefighters retirement trust alleges a health apparel company misled its stockholders in violation of federal securities laws.... The plaintiffs allege the defendants' actions led to FIGS's stock declining by nearly 25%. ' [City of Hallandale Beach Police Officers' And Firefighters" Personnel Retirement Trust v. FIGS, Inc., No. 22-8912 (C.D. Cal. complaint filed Dec. 8, 2022)]

New Orleans Employees' Retirement System Claims Mattel and Auditing Firm PwC Misled Investors

"The lawsuit claims the company understated its income tax expense by $109 million in the third quarter of 2017 and then worked with its auditor, PwC, to manipulate its accounting to conceal this misstatement, according to the suit." [New Orleans Employees' Retirement System vs. Mattel, No. 20-1056 (C.D. Cal. complaint filed Jan. 31, 2020)]

American Airlines Challenges New York City's Paid Sick Leave Law

"Among American Airlines' arguments are that several federal and local laws preempt New York City's Paid Sick Leave Law as they pertain to its flight and ground crews, that the law interferes with employees' collective bargaining agreements benefits and that the law could 'adversely' impact airline prices, routes and services, according to the suit." [American Airlines v. NYC Dept. of Consumer Affairs, No. 19-4424 (S.D.N.Y. complaint filed Aug. 1, 2019)]

Retired California Employees Must Pay Back Pension Overpayment

"The [California Appellate Court] affirmed a trial court decision that two retired officers must pay the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System more than $30,000 combined, finding that the overpayments had been a mistake, albeit a costly one for the former officers." [Krolikowski v. San Diego City Employees Ret. Sys., No. D-071119 (Cal. Ct. App. May 23, 2018)]

Proposed Legislation Would Kill DOL's Fiduciary Rule, Create Best Interest Standard for Broker-Dealers

"U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner has introduced legislation that would ... repeal the DOL's fiduciary rule; create a best interest standard for broker-dealers; require broker-dealers to disclose compensation they receive and any conflict of interest that exists; limit U.S. [SEC] rulemaking authority under Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; prevent the Department of Treasury and DOL from promulgating fiduciary regulations on broker-dealers under [ERISA]; and preempt state laws."

Bank of America Corp., Others Named in Antitrust Lawsuit Filed by Public Pension Systems

"[T]he plaintiffs allege that the defendants ... 'engaged in a combination and conspiracy among themselves to prevent the emergence of efficient all-to-all electronic trading platforms in the stock loan market' and to 'to boycott emerging platforms and force customers to boycott them.' They allege this conduct violated antitrust laws and damaged them and members of the class." [Iowa Public Emp. Ret. System v. Bank of America, No. 17-6221 (S.D.N.Y.; complaint filed Aug. 16, 2017)]

Survey of Financial Planners Says DOL's Fiduciary Rule Already Hurting Savers, Financial Professionals

"The Financial Services Roundtable ... polled 600 financial advisers [in July 2017]. The survey, conducted ... one month after the rule's June 9 initial compliance deadline, shows 'significant disruption' to the marketplace ... A majority of the poll's respondents, or 50 percent, report the rule is restricting them from serving their clients' best interests."

Trump's 'Lawless' Behavior with Fiduciary Rule Undermines Process, Bullard Says

"[University of Mississippi law professor and founder of Fund Democracy] Mercer Bullard, a strong advocate of the [DOL's] fiduciary rule, argues such a standard should have been adopted 'decades ago' and the department's current 60-day delay could hurt future rulemaking. Bullard ... is puzzled by the delay, arguing the rule had one of the most thorough vettings.... 'Half-a-dozen court rulings have found that the rule is well-justified,' he recently [said].... 'No agency will ever again allow for a compliance period that runs into another administration if it knows this type of lawless behavior will lead to a rule being rejected by the new administration without any analysis.' "

Honeywell Retirees Appeal Dismissal of Claim for Lifetime Health Care Benefits

"Retirees of Honeywell International Inc. have appealed an Ohio federal judge's ruling that found the company did not need to pay them lifetime health care benefits.... Through a series of collective bargaining agreements, each of which had a specific term of about three years, Honeywell provided health care benefits to the plaintiffs. Honeywell continued to contribute for several years after the final agreement expired."

New York's Own FMLA Poses Challenges for Employers

"Leave time and wage percentages will increase every year until the law is fully implemented in 2021, when employees will be eligible for 12 weeks of leave at 67 percent of their weekly wage. Some of the funding for this program will come from a new payroll tax that will also grow each year, starting at $0.70 and ending with $1.40 per week. In theory, this means that employers will not have to pay anything to give the worker this benefit, but some simple math shows that a program that gathers about $52 per year from each employee is unlikely to pay for itself."