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Benefits
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November 20, 2024
Amazon Settles Military Leave Bias Suit Ahead Of Trial
Amazon has settled an employee's suit claiming the online retail giant blocked him from promotions because he took leave to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, prompting a Washington federal judge on Wednesday to halt a trial that was set to begin in the case next month.
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November 20, 2024
Firms For Ohio Funds Aim To Steer ZoomInfo Investor Suit
Two Ohio retirement funds asked a Washington federal judge to name their attorneys from Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP and Byrnes Keller Cromwell LLP as lead counsel and liaison counsel in investor claims brought against ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. over its allegedly misguided attempts to maintain a pandemic-era customer boom.
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November 20, 2024
US Chamber Backs Fla. City In ADA Retirement Benefits Suit
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the U.S. Supreme Court to back the Eleventh Circuit's determination that federal disability law doesn't protect former employees from post-employment bias, arguing a former Florida firefighter is trying to stretch the statute beyond what Congress intended.
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November 20, 2024
Pa. Justices Ask Why CBD Isn't 'Medicine' For Hurt Workers
Justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court questioned Wednesday why they should accept an insurer's assertion that hemp-derived CBD oil should be deemed dangerous, when an injured attorney's physician had prescribed it for pain relief as part of his workers' compensation treatment plan.
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November 20, 2024
MVP: Zuckerman Spaeder's D. Brian Hufford
D. Brian Hufford of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP secured key wins for his clients over the past year in cases challenging thousands of healthcare coverage denials, including a victory at the Ninth Circuit where he was able to change the court's mind on the third try, earning him a spot as a 2024 Law360 Benefits MVP.
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November 19, 2024
Vets' Attys Want Nonprofit To Get $63M Of Agent Orange Funds
Counsel representing a class of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and their survivors in litigation that settled 33 years ago urged a California federal judge on Tuesday to hand $63 million in unclaimed funds to a legal nonprofit, a request the federal government has contested.
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November 19, 2024
CSX Can't Escape FMLA Suit Over Attendance Policies
CSX Transportation can't beat a proposed class action alleging certain attendance and pay policies unlawfully penalize engineers, conductors and switchmen who take medical leave, an Ohio federal judge ruled, saying a jury should sort out how comparable other types of absences are.
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November 19, 2024
UnitedHealthcare Can't Escape Patient's Proton Beam Suit
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday refused to toss a federal benefits lawsuit from a patient who alleged that UnitedHealthcare wrongly denied him coverage for proton beam therapy to treat tongue cancer, rejecting the insurer's argument that an exclusion for unproven treatments applied.
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November 19, 2024
Insurers Urge Arbitration Of Union Fund's ERISA Claims
Elevance Health Inc. and several affiliated health insurers want a Connecticut federal judge to force arbitration of claims brought by a union fund that alleges excessive fees violated benefits law, arguing that the companies were unaware of an arbitration agreement with the plaintiff when they started litigating the early stages of a proposed class action.
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November 19, 2024
US Chamber, Biz Groups Back Halt Of Ill. Temp Worker Law
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations backed a bid by a group of staffing associations and agencies to block enforcement of an Illinois law mandating benefits for long-term temporary workers, saying the amended law still distorts the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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November 19, 2024
MVP: Mayer Brown's Brantley Webb
Brantley Webb of Mayer Brown LLP's U.S. Supreme Court and appellate practice group guided Yale University and Wood Group PLC to trial victories in Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuits and convinced the D.C. Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a challenge to Georgetown University's retirement plans, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Benefits MVPs.
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November 18, 2024
Fringe Benefits Co.'s Ex-Atty Can't 'Abandon' Them, DOL Says
The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday urged a Maryland federal court not to let a fringe benefits company's former attorney "abandon" the company ahead of a civil contempt hearing over $3.8 million in unpaid mismanaged funds meant for government contractor employees' benefits, citing potentially "severe" consequences for the company.
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November 18, 2024
$100M Deal In Suit Over Walgreens Rx Prices Gets First OK
An Illinois federal judge gave an initial blessing Monday to a $100 million deal resolving claims from consumers and unions that Walgreens unlawfully overcharged insured consumers for prescription drugs while allowing members of its cost savings club to pay less.
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November 18, 2024
Amazon Worker Can't Add Retaliation Claim To December Trial
A federal judge in Washington state has rejected a worker's eleventh-hour bid to amend his lawsuit accusing Amazon of passing him up for a promotion after he took protected military leave, saying the operations manager cannot "ambush" the e-commerce giant with fresh retaliation allegations just weeks before a trial in December.
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November 18, 2024
Bechtel Retiree Seeks Class Status In 401(k) Fee Suit
A Bechtel Global Corp. retiree asked a Virginia federal judge to let her represent 7,000 retirement plan participants in her suit claiming the engineering company overcharged its $5.7 billion plan by tapping a pricey default investment option.
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November 18, 2024
MVP: McDermott's Allison Wilkerson
McDermott Will & Emery LLP's Allison Wilkerson led the firm's employee stock ownership plan practice group through numerous high-profile deals this year, including accounting firm BDO's $1.3 billion transaction to create its ESOP and multiple acquisitions of ESOP-owned companies, landing her a spot among the 2024 Law360 Benefits MVPs.
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November 18, 2024
High Court Turns Away Ex-Volvo Worker's Military Bias Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a U.S. Army veteran's suit claiming Volvo fired her because of her military service and post-traumatic stress disorder, leaving in place a Seventh Circuit decision that refused to reinstate a $7.8 million jury verdict in her favor.
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November 15, 2024
PBMs Denied Breakup Of Combined FTC Insulin Price Trial
The Federal Trade Commission's allegations that pharmacy benefit manager giants Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx are artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes will forge ahead as a single case following an in-house agency judge's refusal to break them into separate proceedings.
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November 15, 2024
Despite Vaccine Spotlight, RFK Jr. A Health Policy 'Unknown'
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be the nation's top health official, has made clear his unorthodox and often false views on public health issues like vaccines. But there's still plenty of policy under his potential control where his stance remains opaque, attorneys say, which could stymie their efforts to prepare for the next four years.
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November 15, 2024
Pa. Top Court Snapshot: Silent Partners, Skill Games In Nov.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's November argument schedule will task the justices with determining whether a property owner's absentee partner is an "indispensable party," whether CBD oil is reimbursable under workers' comp, and whether operating legally gray "skill games" should disqualify someone from getting a gaming license.
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November 15, 2024
Semiconductor Co. ASML Faces Suit Over Trade Downturn
Semiconductor industry supplier ASML Holding NV has been hit with a shareholder class action alleging that it stunned investors as it significantly lowered its 2025 revenue forecast after earlier brushing off the potential impact of economic headwinds affecting its industry.
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November 15, 2024
Veterans Seek Class Certification In Burn Pit Injuries Suit
A pair of veterans alleging the military misclassified their burn pit injuries as not combat-related have told a D.C. federal judge that they satisfied the criteria for size and common relief sought to proceed as a certified class.
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November 15, 2024
Tenneco Asks Justices To Review 6th Circ. Arbitration Denial
Automotive parts company Tenneco asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review a Sixth Circuit decision from August that refused to force individual arbitration of a proposed class action from workers alleging retirement plan mismanagement, arguing lower courts had disagreed on how to apply federal arbitration law.
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November 15, 2024
McDermott Welcomes Back Employee Benefits Atty In DC
McDermott Will & Emery LLP's status as a top BigLaw firm with a specialized practice focused on employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs, prompted an employee benefits attorney to recently return to the firm's Washington, D.C., office.
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November 15, 2024
Hospital Workers' 2nd Circ. Appeal May Wait For Deloitte Case
Workers for Montefiore Medical Center seeking to revive retirement plan mismanagement allegations may see a delayed ruling in their case until another Second Circuit panel rules on similar claims against Deloitte, a panel judge said Friday during proceedings.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Accidental Death Ruling Shows ERISA Review Standard's Pull
The Eleventh Circuit’s recent accidental death insurance ruling in Goldfarb v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance illustrates how an arbitrary and capricious standard of review in Employee Retirement Income Security Act denial-of-benefits cases creates a steep uphill battle for benefit claimants, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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50 Years Later, ERISA Remains A Work In Progress
A look at the 50 years since the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s passage shows that while the law safeguards benefits through vesting rules, fiduciary responsibilities and anti-discrimination provisions, the act falls short in three key areas, says Carol Buckmann at Cohen & Buckmann.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case
The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses
The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.