Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Acc.Insur.Co., 134 S.Ct. 604 (December 16, 2013), which held that contractual limitations periods established by ERISA-governed employee benefit plans are enforceable, there has been much confusion about when such limitations periods commence and when they end. A recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals […]
In Stapleton v. Advocate Health Care Network, 2016 WL 1055784 (7th Cir. March 17, 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit joined the Third Circuit (Kaplan v. St. Peter’s Healthcare Sys., 810 F .3d 175 (3d Cir.2015)) in holding that a benefit plan established by a church-affiliated organization such as a hospital is not exempt from ERISA.
The American Benefits Council reports that 93 million Americans get their insurance from self-funded plans. These plans serve as an alternative to employers contracting with insurance companies that assume the risk. On March 1, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Vermont data collection law violates the U.S. Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA). In a 6-2 […]
The Supreme Court has once again waded into the Serbonian Bog of what is meant by the term “appropriate equitable relief” contained in 29 U.S.C. Section 1132(a)(3) (ERISA Section 502(a)(3)), which authorizes a civil action to be brought “by a participant, beneficiary or fiduciary (A) to enjoin any act or practice which violates any provision […]
The ERISA statute contains a provision that permits a large universe of potential claimants to seek “appropriate equitable relief.” 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1132(a)(3). Over a series of rulings the Supreme Court has wrestled with the meaning of that term. Historically, courts of equity were limited in the remedies they could provide litigants who came before […]
Pension plans consist of contractual promises made by employers to reward employees for their faithful and devoted service and also serve as a retention incentive to encourage employees to remain with their employers. However, the traditional defined benefit pension plan that promises a monthly lifetime annuity to workers and their spouses has been rapidly disappearing, […]