Insights on benefits counseling and litigation issues impacting employers nationwide
Believe it or not, it may be time to distribute a new Summary Plan Description (SPD) to include all changes made since the last issuance or a Summary of Material Modifications (SMM) for any amendments adopted during the 2018 plan year.
The Rules: The Department of Labor (DOL) regulations and Employee Retirement Income Security Act…
Clients often are surprised to learn they are liable for ERISA statutory penalties associated with participant document requests even though they have retained an independent third party to administer their ERISA welfare benefits plans (such as disability, life, and health plans). It is fairly well established in most of the federal circuits that only the…
In Prouty v. The Hartford Life & Acc. Ins. Co. & C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., 997 F. Supp. 2d 85, 88 (D. Mass. 2014), the plaintiff asserted an ERISA claim against her former employer and the issuer of her employer’s group life insurance plan, claiming that both breached their fiduciary duties by failing to provide…
