Your ERISA Watch has a skeleton crew this week, so there are fewer summaries and they are lighter on detail than usual. As always, we have included links to all of our decisions in case any of these summaries whet your appetite and you want to dive in and get more detail.
The notable decision
Ruessler v. Boilermaker-Blacksmith Nat’l Pension Tr. Bd. of Trs., No. 21-3876, __ F. 4th __, 2023 WL 2750829 (8th Cir. Apr. 3, 2023) (Before Circuit Judges Shepherd, Kelly, and Grasz)
In ERISA disability benefit cases, the issue of Social Security always looms large. Its most direct effect is usually on the calculation of benefits
Zall v. Standard Ins. Co., No. 22-1096, __ F. 4th __, 2023 WL 312368 (7th Cir. Jan. 19, 2023) (Before Circuit Judges Hamilton, St. Eve, and Kirsch)
ERISA Section 503 requires that plan fiduciaries decide benefit claims under a “full and fair” claims review procedure. 29 U.S.C. § 1133. The Department of Labor has