If there was any theme in this week’s cases, it was tobacco surcharge litigation. The last couple of years have seen a surge in putative class actions against large employers challenging the wellness programs in their ERISA-governed health plans. These programs often impose a fee on plan beneficiaries who use tobacco, and provide for ways
Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Corp. of America, Inc., No. 24-10084, __ F. 4th __, 2026 WL 3056461 (11th Cir. Oct. 13, 2026) (en banc, opinion by Circuit Judge Adalberto J. Jordan)
This week’s notable decision comes from the Eleventh Circuit, which issued this en banc ruling addressing whether ERISA requires exhaustion of statutory
As expected, we were inundated with cases as the federal courts finished cleaning up their dockets before the September 30 Civil Justice Reform Act deadline. As a result, this week’s edition is especially meaty, with more than 30 cases addressing the full spectrum of ERISA issues.
This week’s big news was not any of those