For the last 40 years, judges were required to defer to administrative agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes under Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The Supreme Court upended that precedent in Friday’s 6-3 ruling in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, which overturned Chevron and instructs judges to rely on their own
Ninth Circuit: ERISA Does Not Bar Forum Selection Clauses
Aligning itself with other circuit courts that have ruled on the issue, the Ninth Circuit recently held that ERISA does not bar forum selection clauses in benefit plans. The background of the case and the Ninth Circuit’s ruling are straightforward. Plaintiff filed a putative class action in the Northern District of California challenging the management
U.S. Supreme Court: Courts Can Review Railroad Retirement Board’s Refusal to Reopen Claims
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal courts can review decisions by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board denying claimants’ requests to reopen prior benefits denials. Salinas v. U.S. R.R. Ret. Bd., No. 19-199 (Feb. 3, 2021).
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the majority, explained the relevant provision of the
U.S. Supreme Court: State Law Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers is Not Preempted by ERISA
An Arkansas law regulating pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBMs) generic drug reimbursement rates, and affecting the cost of prescription drugs provided under ERISA-governed benefit plans and the administration of those plans, is not preempted by ERISA, the U.S. Supreme Court has held unanimously. Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, No. 18-540, 2020 U.S. LEXIS 5988
U.S. Supreme Court to Take on Affordable Care Act … Again
This term, the U.S. Supreme Court returns to a challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the consolidated cases of California v. Texas (No. 19-840) and Texas v. California (No. 19-1019), the Court will consider whether a group of states and private individuals have standing to challenge the ACA. If that procedural hurdle is
Supreme Court to Consider Appealability of Railroad Retirement Board Decisions
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the second of several ERISA disputes this term, the first issue we discussed as the term began, October 5, 2020. Monday, November 2, 2020, the Justices will consider whether the Railroad Retirement Board’s denial of a claimant’s request to open a prior benefits decision is a “final decision” reviewable
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear the First of Several ERISA Disputes This Term
The Supreme Court, whose new term begins today, the first Monday in October, will consider a number of cases impacting employee benefits and benefits litigation. This is the first in a series analyzing these cases as they are heard by the Court. The first issue up concerns prescription drug benefit regulation, and later in the
Plan Defends Valuation of Accounts in Midst of COVID-Related Market Volatility
A 401(k) plan and its administrators are defending the administrator’s decision to require a special valuation of former employees’ account values, given extraordinary market changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the terms of the plan at issue, when a former employee seeks a distribution of his or her plan account, the account is typically
Eighth Circuit Affirms in Part, Reverses in Part University’s Early Win in ERISA Fee Suit
As the circuit courts continue to define the pleading standards for fiduciary breach claims challenging investments in defined contribution plans, the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s finding that a group of 403(b) plan participants failed to state such a claim. In Davis v Washington University, plaintiffs alleged that