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Text of Eighth Circuit Opinion in Tussey v. ABB: District Court Misconstrued Earlier Ruling, Must Reconsider Participant Claims (PDF)

"In an earlier appeal, we directed the district court to 'reevaluate' how the participants might have been injured if the ABB fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties under [ERISA] when they changed the investment options for the plans.... Because the district court apparently mistook that direction for a definitive ruling on how to measure plan losses, and as a result entered judgment in favor of the ABB fiduciaries despite finding they did breach their duties, we vacate the judgment on that claim and remand for further consideration regarding whether the participants can prove losses to the plans. Because we thus reopen one of the participants' substantive claims, we also vacate and remand the district court's award of attorney fees." [Tussey v. ABB, No. 15-2792 (8th Cir. Mar. 9, 2017)]

Text of Eighth Circuit Opinion Upholding 'Prejudice and Good Faith' Standard When Awarding Penalties for Failure to Provide COBRA Notice (PDF)

"The Coles finally contend the district court abused its discretion by considering the wrong factors when declining to award statutory penalties.... We believe instead the district court did not abuse its discretion where there was no evidence Trinity Health willfully failed to notify the Coles of their COBRA rights or of the retroactive termination of their coverage, and where the district court reasoned 'if Trinity Health intended to act in bad faith, free health care coverage would not have been extended to the Coles.' " [Cole v. Trinity Health Corp., No. 14-1408 (8th Cir. Dec. 15, 2014)]

Eighth Circuit Finds Abuse of Discretion When Insurance Company Stopped Payments of Anesthesiologist's Disability Benefit After 10 Years

"The [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit] concluded that Sun Life abused its discretion by terminating Roehr's benefits based substantially on the same records it had before it when it found him continuously disabled for ten years. In other words, the court found that there was no evidence in the record to justify Sun Life's about-face. The court remanded the matter to the district court with directions to order Sun Life to reinstate Roehr's benefits." [Roehr v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, No. 21-1559 (8th Cir. Dec. 27, 2021)]

Eighth Circuit Upholds $11,550 Penalty for Failure to Supply SPD Even Though Request Not Specific (PDF)

11 pages. Excerpt: Brown"s attorney mailed two letters requesting this information on January 23, 2001 and February 7, 2001. Although these letters did not specifically ask for a 'summary plan description,' the district court found them to constitute a request for the SPD based on their language requesting information about 'all benefits." [Brown v. Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., No. 02-4063/03-2084 (8th Cir. Sep. 9, 2003)]

Text of Eighth Circuit Opinion: ERISA Preempts Iowa Requirement for Reporting by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PDF)

13 pages. "Iowa's law compels PBMs as third-party administrators to report to the commissioner and to network pharmacies their methodology for establishing reimbursement amounts paid to pharmacies for providing certain generic drugs to plan participants.... [This statute] imposes mandates and restrictions on a PBM's relationship with Iowa and its pharmacies that run counter to ERISA's intent of making plan oversight and procedures uniform.... ERISA's express preemption clause requires invalidation of the statute as applied to PBMs in their administration and management of prescription drug benefits for ERISA plans." [Pharmaceutical Care Management Association v. Gerhart, No. 15-3292 (8th Cir. Jan. 11, 2017)]

Text of Eighth Circuit Opinion Dismissing ERISA Stock Drop Suit Against Wells Fargo (PDF)

13 pages. "This appeal arises out of the unauthorized-accounts scandal at Wells Fargo.... The initial public disclosure of the fraud caused the market value of Wells Fargo's stock to drop drastically ... Appellants alleged that, by failing to take corrective measures to protect the Plan participants, such as publicly disclosing Wells Fargo's unethical sales practices prior to September 2016, freezing investment in the Wells Fargo Stock Funds, or purchasing a hedging product, Appellees breached their duties of prudence and loyalty under ERISA.... We find that a prudent fiduciary -- even one who knows disclosure is inevitable and that earlier disclosure may ameliorate some harm to the company's stock price and reputation -- could readily conclude that it would do more harm than good to disclose information about Wells Fargo's sales practices prior to the completion of the government's investigation. " [Allen v. Wells Fargo, No. 18-2781 (8th Cir. Jul. 27, 2020)]

Eighth Circuit Upholds LTD Benefits Denial Even Though Claimant Qualified for Social Security Disability (PDF)

12 pages; Coker v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, No. 01-2772 (8th Cir. Feb. 28, 2002). Excerpt: The determination that Coker suffers from a pain-based disability under Social Security regulations does not require MetLife to reach the same conclusion.... [S]ee also Ciulla v. USAble Life ... ("ERISA plans are not bound by Social Security determinations, and this court owes no deference to findings made under the Social Security Act.").

Text of Eighth Circuit Opinion Recognizing Surcharge Relief, Contract Reformation and Equitable Estoppel Claims (PDF)

"To obtain relief under the surcharge theory, a plan participant is required to show harm resulting from the plan administrator's breach of a fiduciary duty.... It was arguably fraudulent for MetLife to collect premiums from [the plaintiff,] a Savvis employee who, MetLife now argues, never had an approved policy. Further, MetLife did not just erroneously collect premiums from [the plaintiff] -- an internal MetLife investigation showed that roughly 200 Savvis employees had been paying premiums for policies that were never approved by MetLife. We conclude that [the plaintiff] is allowed to make his waiver argument on remand, and if successful, receive monetary damages" [Silva v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., No. 13-2233 (8th Cir. Aug. 7, 2014)]

Eighth Circuit: Restoration of Same Position Not Present If Job Duties Differ, Even Though Title and Salary Restored (PDF)

FindLaw's description of the case: 'Under the Family Medical Leave Act, restoration of pay, title and benefits does not necessarily constitute restoration to the same position if the job duties and essential functions of the newly assigned position are not materially different." [Cooper v. Olin Corp., No. 00-1465 (8th Cir. May 1, 2001)]

Eighth Circuit: Abuse of Discretion Standard Was Proper in Life Insurance Case Against Insurer (PDF)

19 pages; particularly unusual facts, involving simultaneous potential murder and suicide exclusions. Excerpt: [Plaintiff] must show that UNUM's potential conflict and failure to meet claim deadlines amounted to serious breaches of fiduciary duty such that 'serious doubts' are raised as to whether the administrator's decision was arbitrary or the product of her whim. [Phillips-Foster v. UNUM Life Insurance Co. Nos. 01-3570/3648 (8th Cir. Sept. 4, 2002).]