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

Class Actions

Second Circuit

Vollmer v. Xerox Corp., 20-CV-6979 (CJS), 2021 WL 50907 (W.D.N.Y. Jan. 6, 2021) (Judge Charles J. Sipagusa). In this class action, Plaintiffs alleged that Xerox violated the employee benefit plan by requiring all participants in the 1986 Enhanced Early Retirement Program to begin paying 50% of their medical and dental premiums. Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction and were denied. The court found that, where Plaintiffs’ harm could be alleviated by monetary damages and they faced no involuntary termination of coverage, a preliminary injunction was not needed as there was no irreparable harm.
Continue Reading Your ERISA Watch – Week of January 13, 2021

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

Attorneys’ Fees

Eighth Circuit

Lapidus v. Life Insurance Company of North America, No. 4:18 CV 01291 JCH, 2019 WL 4089395 (E.D. Mo. Aug. 29, 2019) (Judge Jean C. Hamilton).  In this dispute over long-term disability benefits under de novo review, the court found in Plaintiff’s favor on the merits of her disability claim but denied her attorneys’ fees.  The court explained that LINA’s mismanagement of Plaintiff’s claim does not conclusively show bad faith and is only one of several factors the court must consider.  LINA’s ability to pay is the only factor weighing heavily in Plaintiff’s favor.  Though LINA’s denial of benefits was improper, LINA relied on legitimate portions of the policy.
Continue Reading Your ERISA Watch – Week of September 3, 2019

Today marks the five-year anniversary from the very first ERISA Watch newsletter that I sent out on August 29, 2014.  If you’ve been a subscriber since the beginning, you have received over 250 ERISA Watch case summary emails from me over the past five years.  The number of subscribers has more than doubled to a current count of 487!

I want to take a moment to thank you all for being part of this forum that has entertained my musings of the litigation developments in our field over the past several years.  Staying on top of the recent decisions and getting out the newsletter on a weekly basis (with very few exceptions) has been quite the labor of love but I truly enjoy this work and hope that it brings something useful to all of your practices (even the defense attorneys!)
Continue Reading Let’s Celebrate! Happy 5th Birthday to ERISA Watch!