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Below is a summary of this past week’s notable ERISA decisions by subject matter and jurisdiction.

Arbitration

Eighth Circuit

Sutton v. DST Systems Inc, No. 4:21-09052, 2021 WL 4896545 (W.D. Mo. Oct. 20, 2021) (Judge Nanette K. Laughrey). For the third week in a row, DST Systems, Inc. is ordered to pay the arbitration awards against it. Briefly stated, DST failed to monitor and ensure the rebalancing of overly concentrated investments in its defined contribution retirement plan. This mismanagement resulted in lawsuits from plan participants in Missouri in which DST argued successfully in favor of compulsory arbitrations. Hundreds of plan participants subsequently brought arbitration proceedings against DST.
Continue Reading Your ERISA Watch – Week of October 27, 2021

Below is a summary of this past week’s notable ERISA decisions by subject matter and jurisdiction.

Attorneys’ Fees

Ninth Circuit

Hoffman v. Screen Actors Guild-Producers Health Plan, No. 2:10-CV-06913-CJC-E, 2021 WL 3888251 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2021) (Judge Cormac J. Carney). Plaintiff filed suit in 2010. Two prior fee decisions awarded $185,670 and $246,890 in attorneys’ fees. In the current motion, following a Ninth Circuit decision vitiating several prior rulings from the district court, the reopening of the case, and a settlement, plaintiff sought an additional $69,150 in fees for 92.2 hours of work at a rate of $750 per hour. The court found that $750 per hour was reasonable for an attorney admitted in 1970, who had handled over 200 ERISA cases, and been named a “Southern California Super Lawyer” in the field of ERISA every year since 2006. The court also found time was appropriately expended on prior unsuccessful motions that had advanced arguments subsequently adopted by the Ninth Circuit. It also awarded fees based on time spent on preparing the fee motion and time for a motion that was withdrawn but became the foundation for a Ninth Circuit brief. However, the court denied fees for time spent on prior unsuccessful motions it deemed completely devoid of any legal authority. In the end, the court awarded 60.3 hours, at a rate of $750 per hour, for a total award of $45,225 in additional attorneys’ fees (bringing the total fees awarded in the case to $477,785). Plaintiff has appealed the decision, continuing the more than decade-long saga.Continue Reading Your ERISA Watch – Week of September 8, 2021

Below is a summary of this past week’s notable ERISA decisions by subject matter and jurisdiction.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Third Circuit

Johnson v. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., No. 2:20-CV-01493-CCW, 2021 WL 3417843 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 3, 2021) (Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand). In this case plaintiffs alleged that defendants, ERISA plan fiduciaries, breached their duties of prudence and loyalty by overpaying certain administrative and record-keeping services and that these excessive fees and costs demonstrated imprudence and disloyalty. Defendants brought a motion to dismiss. The court ruled that plaintiffs’ allegations “stop short of crossing the threshold from possible to probable.” The court found that the plan’s recordkeeping fees trended downward for the period at issue which pointed in the direction of prudence, not imprudence. The court ruled that plaintiffs’ claims for failure to monitor could not stand without a viable claim for breach of fiduciary duty. The court granted the motion to dismiss with leave to amend.
Continue Reading Your ERISA Watch – Week of August 11, 2021