State health care database laws take on ERISA: SCOTUS to decide

SCOTUS will soon decide on whether ERISA trumps state health care database laws. For the first time in almost ten years, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has agreed to hear a case involving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1973 (ERISA) claim. The case calls into question whether or not a […]

Churches, Pensions and ERISA

A recent federal court ruling in Michigan outlined the scope of a provision in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that exempts “church plans” from being subject to Employee Retirement Income Security Act funding and reporting requirements. In Overall v. Ascension, 2014 WL 1908428, 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 65418 (E.D.Mich. May 13, 2014), the plaintiff brought a […]

Federal judge challenges ERISA litigation procedures

In Criss v. Union Security Ins.Co., 2014 WL 2707774, 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 79300 (N.D.Ala. June 11, 2014), Judge William Acker, Jr. challenged the current methodology utilized by courts in adjudicating benefit disputes brought under ERISA.  The court based its premise on the universally recognized legal maxim, nemo judex in causa sua; i.e., “No man should be […]