Wolf v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am., No. 21-35485, __ F.4th __, 2022 WL 3652966 (9th Cir. Aug. 25, 2022) (Before Circuit Judges Gilman (6th Cir.), Ikuta and Miller)
Employers provide all types of benefits to their employees, and most of us focus on the big-ticket ones: health and retirement. However, employers often
Plaintiffs prevailed in this week’s two notable decisions, but not entirely. In the first decision, the Sixth Circuit allowed a portion of a pension case alleging excessive investment fees to proceed. In the second case, the Fourth Circuit addressed welfare plan vesting and found, under the highly unusual circumstances of the case, some retirees could proceed with their claim for life insurance benefits.
Continue Reading Sorry ABBA, No Winner Takes It All In These Two Cases of the Week
Your ERISA Watch – Eighth Circuit Rules That Reliance Standard’s “Haphazard System of Ships Passing in the Night” Led to a Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Skelton v. Radisson Hotel Bloomington, No. 21-2641, __ F.4th __, 2022 WL 1434778 (8th Cir. May 6, 2022) (Before Circuit Judges Gruender, Benton, and Erickson).
ERISA-governed life insurance benefit plans are typically administered jointly by the employer and an insurance company. The exact duties of each party vary from plan to plan, but often the division of responsibility is confusing. It is common for one party to be uncertain as to what the other is supposed to be doing, and frequently neither party possesses full information as to which employees have signed up for what, and whether those employees have met all the requirements for eligibility or enrollment.
Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Rules That Reliance Standard’s “Haphazard System of Ships Passing in the Night” Led to a Breach of Fiduciary Duty