Courts continue to be split over the availability of disgorgement and “accounting for profits” in ERISA class actions involving in-house investment plans. On March 3, 2017, in Brotherston v. Putnam Investments, LLC, No. 1:15-cv-13825-WGY (D. Mass. March 3, 2017), the court declined to resolve the dispute at the summary judgment stage, allowing the certified
ANOTHER ERISA CHURCH PLAN CLASS ACTION SETTLES
Citing to the “significant uncertainties in predicting the outcome” of their litigation “where the critical issue is pending before the Supreme Court” (oral argument on the scope of ERISA’s church plan exemption is set in three consolidated cases for March 27), Plaintiffs in Butler et al. vs. Holy Cross Hospital, another church plan class
Church Plan Cases: Federal Agencies Finally Speak
As many of you know, currently pending before the Supreme Court are consolidated cases from the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits holding that, for religiously affiliated employers, employee benefits plans must initially be established by a church for the plans to be exempt from ERISA as “church plans.” The circuit courts issued these holdings when,
What Does the Supreme Court’s Spokeo Decision Mean in the ERISA Litigation Context?
ERISA practitioners should be aware of the extent to which the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins may touch on ERISA claims and defenses. In Spokeo, decided 6 to 2 last month, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of constitutional standing under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), and our FCRA
Supreme Court: ERISA Plan Cannot Recover Settlement Funds That Have Been Spent
The U.S. Supreme Court has narrowed, ever so slightly, the ever-changing definition of “appropriate equitable relief” under ERISA Section 502(a)(3). In Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan,[1] the high court addressed whether a plan fiduciary can recover medical payments made on behalf of a participant when
Tibble v. Edison International
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced a much-anticipated ERISA plan decision in the case of Tibble v. Edison International. ERISA practitioners and plan administrators have been watching Tibble with interest because the Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider a very broad question – namely, whether ERISA’s six-year limitations period barred imprudent investment claims where