Since the first quarter of 2024, 10 plan sponsors (along with named and independent fiduciaries) have been sued in 13 putative class actions challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs), which are transfers to insurance companies of a portion or all of a defined benefit pension plan’s liabilities through the purchase of a group annuity contract. Generally
A rapidly growing line of ERISA cases seeks to impose fiduciary standards of conduct—developed by courts largely in the retirement plan context—to health plan design choices. The most recent, Barbich et al. v. Northwestern University et al., No. 1:25-cv-06849 (N.D. Ill.) filed on June 20, 2025, involves a new and potentially disruptive twist: plaintiffs
THE BENEFIT TO AN EMPLOYER OF INCLUDING BOTH A RELEASE AND A COVENANT NOT TO SUE IN A SEPARATION OR SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH AN EMPLOYEE
ERISA class actions have been plaguing corporate America for more than a decade. There is no universally accepted application of the pleading standards for ERISA fee and performance cases, which
On July 25 the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services (“tri-agencies”) released guidance related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Among other documents, the guidance includes a proposed update to the MHPAEA regulations and a report to Congress summarizing the tri-agencies’ enforcement efforts related to group health
Retirement plans may have thousands of participants and billions of dollars in plan assets. Unfortunately, these large sums of money are attractive to bad actors who look to prey on unknowing victims by fraudulently accessing funds. Plan administrators, as fiduciaries of retirement plans, are wise to understand their legal obligations and best practices related to
The Seventh Circuit has issued its decision in the much-anticipated case of Divane v. Northwestern. The district court below had refused to allow plaintiffs to proceed with breach of fiduciary duty and prohibited transaction claims based on the recordkeeper’s use of participant data for purposes of “cross-marketing” non-plan services to plan participants. The issue