Benefits

  • February 07, 2025

    Teamsters Pension Plan Overseers Skirt Mismanagement Suit

    The caretakers of a Teamsters pension plan dodged a mismanagement lawsuit Friday, with a New York federal judge dismissing the plan participants' claims that the plan's trustees and advisers greenlighted risky investment decisions and hefty plan management fees.

  • February 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Ex-Bank Auditor's $1.5M Retaliation Suit Win

    The Ninth Circuit upheld a $1.5 million jury verdict in favor of a former bank auditor who claimed he was fired for flagging evidence of wrongdoing, finding evidence suggesting he was treated differently from other workers was enough to back up the jurors' decision.

  • February 07, 2025

    Chicago Hospital Network Inks $850K Retirement Suit Deal

    A Chicago-area hospital system will pay $850,000 to settle an ex-worker's proposed class action alleging it violated federal benefits law by failing to leverage the size of its $1.8 billion employee retirement plan to lower recordkeeping fees, according to filings Friday in Illinois federal court.

  • February 07, 2025

    Wash. AG Sues To Block 'Hateful' Trump Transgender Edict

    Washington, Minnesota and Oregon, along with three unnamed doctors, seek to block President Donald Trump's order targeting transgender youth and their medical providers, arguing in a complaint filed Friday in Seattle federal court that the Trump edict is unconstitutional, discriminates against transgender people and interferes with lifesaving healthcare.

  • February 07, 2025

    Okla. School District Settles Ex-Teacher's Military Leave Suit

    An Oklahoma school district has agreed to pay a former music teacher $60,000 to resolve his suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice claiming the district scuttled his employment contract for taking leave to serve in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

  • February 06, 2025

    State AGs To Sue Over DOGE Access To Payment Systems

    Over a dozen state attorneys general are set to file suit challenging Elon Musk and Department of Government Efficiency staffers' access to people's sensitive personal information through government payment systems, New York Attorney General Letitia James' office announced Thursday.

  • February 06, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Premera Teen Treatment Coverage Case

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday declined to renew a family's suit against Premera Blue Cross for refusing to cover extensive residential mental health treatment for a Washington teen, backing the insurer's determination that the treatment was not medically necessary.

  • February 06, 2025

    6th Circ. Uncertain If Health Plan Administrator Is A Fiduciary

    A yacht-maker urged the Sixth Circuit on Thursday to revive its lawsuit accusing Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan of overpaying employee health plan claims so it could profit off of savings recovered later, but faced tough questions about whether plan administrator BCBSM was a fiduciary under federal benefits law.

  • February 06, 2025

    ERISA Preempts Banker's $5.5M Deferred Comp, Judge Rules

    The Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts a former Leerink Partners employee's claims that she was cheated out of about $5.5 million in deferred compensation after the bank hired her under allegedly false pretenses from Goldman Sachs, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • February 06, 2025

    GSK's Zantac Woes Gave Investors Heartburn, Suit Says

    The maker of heartburn and acid reflux relief tablet Zantac has been hit with a shareholder suit in Pennsylvania federal court alleging that the company suffered stock price losses after it was revealed that for nearly 40 years the company knew that Zantac contained high levels of a cancer-causing compound.

  • February 06, 2025

    Yellow Corp. Scores Partial Win In $540M Pension Plan Row

    Bankrupt trucking firm Yellow Corp. has secured a partial victory on summary judgment in a $540 million fight with several union pension funds, with a Delaware bankruptcy judge saying the funds set the company's withdrawal liability too high.

  • February 06, 2025

    Musk's Access To Records Blocked In DOGE, Treasury Suit

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Thursday approved a consent order blocking Elon Musk and additional Department of Government Efficiency employees from accessing the federal government's payment systems, although a "special government employee" will have limited access as the Treasury Department and suing plaintiffs spar over a preliminary injunction.

  • February 06, 2025

    HP Defeats Ex-Worker's Suit Over 401(k) Forfeitures

    A California federal judge dismissed a proposed class action claiming HP Inc. should have used forfeited funds in its 401(k) plan to pay down administrative fees instead of its own contributions, stating the former worker behind the case hasn't shown the tech company did anything wrong.

  • February 06, 2025

    Union Funds Call For Sanctions In CBA Fight With Crane Co.

    Benefit funds for an Operating Engineers local asked a Michigan federal court to adopt a magistrate judge's recommendation of sanctions against a crane rental company in the parties' contributions spat, accusing the business of being "blatantly disingenuous" in its objections to her findings.

  • February 06, 2025

    Mobility Scooter Co. Gets Nod For $2.1M Deal In ESOP Fight

    A Pennsylvania federal judge gave initial approval to a $2.1 million deal Thursday that would resolve a class action claiming a mobility scooter company invested funds from its employee stock ownership plan into dismally performing Treasury bills and cash equivalents.

  • February 06, 2025

    Steel Co., Ex-Worker To Settle 401(k) Mismanagement Suit

    A steel manufacturer agreed to settle a proposed class action claiming it loaded its 401(k) plan with unreasonable fees and risky investment options, the worker leading the suit told a Florida federal court.

  • February 05, 2025

    Paramount-Skydance Merger Block Sought Pending Del. Suit

    Five Paramount Global pension fund stockholders sought a preliminary injunction in Delaware late Wednesday seeking to block closing on the estimated $8 billion Paramount-Skydance Media merger pending a decision on a still-sealed Court of Chancery breach of fiduciary duty suit filed Tueday night.

  • February 05, 2025

    Trade Groups Urge PBM Crackdown By Trump, Congress

    A coalition of industry trade groups sent letters Wednesday urging President Donald Trump and leaders in Congress to advance legislation reining in pharmacy benefit managers — which intermediate between drugmakers, insurers and pharmacies — in the next piece of federal government funding legislation.

  • February 05, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Xerox Must Arbitrate Union's Benefits Dispute

    The Second Circuit upended on Wednesday an order in favor of Xerox in a union's challenge to the company's decision to terminate health benefits for more than 2,000 retirees, saying the parties can arbitrate the dispute despite the collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, between them having expired.

  • February 05, 2025

    Wagner Law Scoops Up Benefits Expert From Paul Hastings

    The Wagner Law Group has added a benefits and executive compensation attorney from Paul Hastings LLP to its ranks in Washington, D.C., picking up a lawyer who can draw on almost three decades of experience to assist the boutique firm's clients.

  • February 05, 2025

    Pa. Dept.'s Switch On Abortion Funding Leaves Court Unsure

    A Pennsylvania appellate court struggled Wednesday with how to handle a challenge to the state's ban on using Medicaid funding for abortions, after the state's health regulator switched sides to agree with the suing providers and the commonwealth's justices stopped Republican lawmakers from defending the ban.

  • February 04, 2025

    Judge Explains Biogen Class Cert. Ruling After 1st Circ. Order

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday said he was reminded of a grade school lesson in long division as he explained his reasoning behind granting class certification and cutting short the class period in a suit against drugmaker Biogen Inc. on the orders of the First Circuit.

  • February 04, 2025

    4th Circ. Reverses Disability Suit Win For Cox Enterprises

    The Fourth Circuit reversed a win for Cox Enterprises Inc. on Tuesday in an ex-worker's federal benefits lawsuit alleging he was wrongly denied long-term disability benefits, citing a failure by the plan's administrator to discuss conflicting evidence regarding the ex-worker's capability to return to work.

  • February 04, 2025

    Trump Trans Care Order Usurps Congress' Power, Suit Says

    The Trump administration overstepped when it issued an executive order cutting off gender-affirming care for people under 19, a group of transgender adolescents, young adults and their families told a Maryland federal court Tuesday, arguing the president is trying to usurp Congressional authority by forcing federally funded hospitals to discriminate.

  • February 04, 2025

    'Sloppy' Work Hurts Lab's $20.6M Insurance Suit, Judge Says

    A Connecticut federal judge said Tuesday that a contract lawsuit against insurer Aetna Inc. and its owner CVS Health Corp., seeking about $20.6 million in payment for laboratory services, seems to "suffer" from the fact that the plaintiff filed dozens of similar cases in short order.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    FTC's Report Criticizing Drug Middlemen Is Flawed

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    The Federal Trade Commission's July report, which claims that pharmacy benefit managers are inflating drug costs, does not offer a credible analysis of PBMs, and its methodology lacks rigor, says Jay Ezrielev at Elevecon.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Plan Sponsors Must Prep For New Mental Health, Drug Rules

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    To comply with newly published health insurance rules requiring parity between access to mental health and substance use services compared to medical and surgical services, employers with self-insured plans will need to update third-party administrator agreements and collect data, among other compliance steps, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • How Cos. Can Protect Supply Chains During The Port Strike

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    With dock workers at ports along the East and Gulf Coasts launching a strike that will likely cause severe supply chain disruptions, there are several steps exporters and importers can take to protect their businesses and mitigate increased costs, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • FTC Focus: How Scrutiny Of PBMs And Insulin May Play Out

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    Should Express Scripts' recent judicial challenge to the Federal Trade Commission succeed, any new targets could add litigation and choice of forum to their playbooks, and potential FTC court action on insulin could be forced to parallel venues as the issues between the commission and PBMs evolve, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • SEC Settlement Holds Important Pay-To-Play Lessons

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent fine of an investment adviser, whose new hire made a campaign contribution within a crucial lookback period, is a seasonable reminder for public fund managers to ensure their processes thoroughly screen all associates for even minor violations of the SEC’s strict pay-to-play rule, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Basics Of Collective Bargaining Law In Principle And Practice

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Rebecca Bernhard and Jennifer Service at Barnes & Thornburg discuss the nuts and bolts of what the National Labor Relations Act requires of employers during collective bargaining, and translate these obligations into practical steps that will help companies prepare for, and succeed during, the negotiation process.

  • Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules

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    A Missouri federal court’s recent order enjoining the state’s anti-ESG rules comes amid actions by state legislatures to revise or invalidate similar legislation imposing disclosure and consent requirements around environmental, social and governance investing, and could be a blueprint for future challenges, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

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