In Rose v. PSA Airlines, Inc., 80 F.4th 488 (4th Cir. 2023), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that ERISA § 502(a)(3), which permits a claim for “other appropriate equitable relief,” does not allow claims to recover money from a defendant’s general assets. This alert discusses the Rose decision and its potential impact on ESOP cases.
Continue reading “Thinking ESOPs: Fourth Circuit Narrows Equitable Relief Under ERISA”
In Waggeh v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 2023 WL 4373897 (D. Mass. July 6, 2023), Chief Judge Saylor of the District of Massachusetts rejected the plaintiff’s contention that her state law claims “fell outside the provisions of ERISA,” and dismissed the complaint on the grounds that they were preempted by ERISA. In support of its motion to dismiss, Guardian offered an affidavit disputing the assertions in the complaint, but did not include a copy of the policy or the plan with the affidavit. While the court ultimately dismissed the complaint, Guardian’s affidavit was not considered — emphasizing the importance of governing documents.
Continue reading “Waggeh v. Guardian Highlights Importance of Governing Documents in ERISA Disputes”
Take a quick dive into the exciting world of ERISA with Faegre Drinker benefits and executive compensation attorneys Fred Reish and Brad Campbell. In this quick-hit series of updates, Fred and Brad offer a high-level view of current trends and recent ERISA developments. See the newest episode, ERISA Moments: What Will be in the New DOL Fiduciary Proposal: Our Thoughts, below.
Continue reading “ERISA Moments: What Will be in the New DOL Fiduciary Proposal: Our Thoughts”
Take a quick dive into the exciting world of ERISA with Faegre Drinker benefits and executive compensation attorneys Fred Reish and Brad Campbell. In this quick-hit series of updates, Fred and Brad offer a high-level view of current trends and recent ERISA developments. See the newest episode, The DOL’s New Fiduciary Proposal is at the OMB: What’s Next?, below.
Take a quick dive into the exciting world of ERISA with Faegre Drinker benefits and executive compensation attorneys Fred Reish and Brad Campbell. In this quick-hit series of updates, Fred and Brad offer a high-level view of current trends and recent ERISA developments. See the first episode, A Federal Court Decides on the DOL’s ESG Regulation, below.
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Written by members of Faegre Drinker’s benefits and executive compensation team, this blog features analysis and information on matters related to retirement plans, health and welfare plans, ESOPs, ERISA litigation, fiduciary governance, and other benefits issues.
This quarterly digest provides links to our most popular posts during the past few months so that you can catch up on what you missed or re-read them.
By Sarah Bassler Millar, Yael Kalman and Dawn Sellstrom
Plan sponsors, insurers, and third-party administrators should pay close attention to the new guidance to facilitate health plan compliance with complex nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses requirements.
By Kimberly Jones and James E. Crossen
401(k) plan fiduciaries recently defeated a lawsuit alleging the fiduciaries imprudently managed and paid excessive record keeping an investment fees. The victory for the fiduciaries follows a jury trial win of Yale University’s 403(b) plan. The court opinions in both of these cases serve as a good reminder that offense is the best defense, and ERISA plan fiduciaries best protect themselves against ERISA breach of duty of prudence claims by proactively implementing strong fiduciary governance practices, such as keeping thorough committee meeting minutes.
By Mona Ghude and Mark Rosenfeld
On August 25, 2023, the IRS announced a two-year delay for the Roth catch-up contribution requirement for employees making $145,000 or more in the prior calendar year that would have applied in 2024. The Roth catch-up contribution requirement will now be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
Following a bench trial in a Pennsylvania federal district court in Nunez v. B. Braun Medical, Inc., 401(k) plan fiduciaries defeated a lawsuit alleging that the fiduciaries imprudently managed and paid excessive recordkeeping and investment management fees. The B. Braun Medical fiduciaries’ win follows on the heels of a jury trial win by fiduciaries of Yale University’s 403(b) plan. The court opinions in both of these cases serve as a good reminder that offense is the best defense, and ERISA plan fiduciaries best protect themselves against ERISA breach of duty of prudence claims by proactively implementing strong fiduciary governance practices, such as keeping thorough committee meeting minutes. Consistently creating and maintaining detailed records regarding the initial selection and ongoing monitoring of vendors and investment options will help the committee defend those decisions later.
In Nunez, the court found that both the processes and the outcomes with respect to the plan’s recordkeeping and investments were objectively prudent—the opposite of which the plaintiffs would be required to prove to win their case.
Continue reading “Another 401(k) Plan Fiduciary Defeats Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims at Trial”
On August 25, 2023, the IRS announced a two-year delay for the Roth catch-up contribution requirement for employees making $145,000 or more in the prior calendar year that would have applied in 2024. The Roth catch-up contribution requirement will now be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. (For an overview of SECURE 2.0 for defined contribution plan sponsors, click here.)
On July 7, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama issued a ruling in Perfection Bakeries Inc. v. Retail Wholesale & Dep’t Store Int’l Union & Indus. Pension Fund, ordering Perfection Bakery, Inc. (Perfection Bakery) to pay the Retail Wholesale and Department Store International Union and Industry Pension Fund (the Fund) withdrawal liability in the amount of $15.6 million.
The court affirmed the previously issued arbitrator’s decision regarding the amount of withdrawal liability Perfection Bakery owed the Fund for its 2018 complete withdrawal. Perfection Bakery argued that the partial withdrawal liability it had paid as a result of its 2016 partial withdrawal should count towards the 2018 total withdrawal liability to reduce the total liability overhead cost. Perfection Bakery argued that the Fund, by not doing so, had misinterpreted the applicable law governing withdrawal liability.
Plan sponsors, insurers, and third-party administrators should pay close attention to the new guidance to facilitate health plan compliance with complex nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses requirements.
On July 25, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of the Treasury (Treasury), and Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Departments) issued a proposed rule on how to comply with the nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTL) comparative analyses requirements enacted under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The requirement for health plans to perform and document their comparative analyses of the design and application of NQTLs became effective February 10, 2021, and the DOL has been aggressively enforcing the requirement through extensive, multi-year health plan investigations over the last few years. In addition to the proposed rule, the new guidance issued also includes:
Continue reading “DOL Issues Long Awaited Mental Health Parity Guidance”
