ERISA Litigation

Good news for employers / 401(k) committees overseeing retirement plans.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a significant ERISA decision in Trauernicht v. Genworth Financial, Inc., denying class certification in a fiduciary‑breach case challenging the selection and retention of target‑date funds.

The plaintiffs alleged that Genworth’s $900M, 4,000‑participant…

Good News for Employers! The 9th Circuit recently confirmed that a plan’s ERISA obligation to provide plan documents upon a participant’s request is limited to those documents that “provide individual participants with information about the plan and benefits.”

The obligation does not extend to documents, such as service agreements, that govern the relationship between the…

Litigation regarding a 401(k) plan’s use of forfeitures continues, but this time some good news to report.

Earlier this week, a district court dismissed, with prejudice, a plaintiff’s proposed class action against Honeywell International Inc. dealing with its use of 401(k) plan forfeitures.

Honeywell’s plan document, as is common, allowed Honeywell to use forfeitures to…

Breaking News: On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors,” directing the Department of Labor to reexamine its current guidance on a fiduciary’s duties regarding alternative investments — such as private equity, hedge funds, and real estate — in defined contribution plans.

Although…

Employers that sponsor employee benefit plans must comply with ERISA and other federal laws and are generally exempt from most state laws. However, lately, states are trying to regulate employee benefit plans in a number of ways. In particular, some states have passed laws that purport to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) that service self-insured…

Employers that sponsor 401k plans should note that on May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01, rescinding their 2022 guidance warning 401(k) plan fiduciaries against adding cryptocurrencies as direct investment options under their plans.

That prior 2022 guidance noted “significant risks and challenges to participants’ retirement accounts, including significant…

Do employers that sponsor self-insured health plans need to worry about state laws?

Many employers sponsor self-insured health plans, relying on third party administrators (TPAs) to handle claims and other aspects of compliance, primarily compliance with the federal law known as ERISA. Lately, with increasing frequency, states have been getting into the act, passing laws…

In a post-Chevron world, employers that sponsor self-insured health plans (and other benefit plans!) must continue to ensure that they are complying with ERISA’s claims procedures.

In a recent decision, the Eastern District of Virginia found that ERISA’s claims procedures, in particular regarding exhaustion and timing, continue to apply following the Supreme Court’s decision in…

In a decision published on April 15, the Second Circuit said that a cable company owed $13 million in withdrawal liability to a multiemployer pension plan.

In this case, the question was, is a cable company in the “building and construction industry” and therefore exempt from withdrawal liability?

The court said, no, the exemption does…

As a class action lawsuit alleging ERISA violations with respect to Twitter successor X Corp’s severance plan continues into 2024, now is a good time for employers to review their severance practices and policies with ERISA counsel to determine whether those plans are subject to ERISA and, if so, whether any action is necessary or…