By Kathleen Cahill Slaught and Justin T. Curley[1]
In Sereboff v. Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Inc., 547 U.S. 356 (2006), the U.S. Supreme Court held that an ERISA plan could recover settlement proceeds from a beneficiary under the terms of the plan rather than under an equitable lien theory requiring “strict tracing” of…
By: Ronald J. Kramer
When it comes to monetary damages, usually a plaintiff must show some type of harm to recover. That apparently is not the case, however, when seeking plan reformation as a remedy for an alleged failure to disclose certain information.
In Osberg v. Foot Locker, Case No. 13-187-cv (2d Cir. Feb.…
By: Mark Casciari and Annette Kim
In Killian v. Concert Health Plan, No. 11-1112 (7th Cir. Nov. 7, 2013), the Seventh Circuit en banc reversed the judgment of the district court, holding plaintiff-appellant, James Killian, may pursue a claim for breach of fiduciary duty against his deceased wife’s health care plan. Mr. Killian…
By: Mark Casciari and Chris Busey
Anyone who can spell ERISA knows the difference between defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution retirement plans. This distinction was again at the forefront of a recent U.S. district court decision.
In Palmason v. Weyerhauser Co., No. 11-0695 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 23, 2013), plaintiffs were participants in the…
By: Mark Casciari and Violet Borowski
If a participant never received notice of a plan’s termination and suffered injury as a result, is the ERISA statue of repose nonetheless a time-bar to the litigation?
On August 29, 2013, in a decision on which Seyfarth Shaw served as appellate counsel for one of the defendants,…
By: Ron Kramer and Chris Busey
Fiduciaries who breach their duties may pay the consequences far longer than they may think, for they may not even be able to escape liability through personal bankruptcy. In Raso v. Fahey (In re Fahey), No. 11-1118 (June 11, 2013), the U.S Bankruptcy Court for the District of…
By: Amanda Sonneborn, Meg Troy and Sam Schwartz-Fenwick
On June 13, 2013, the Seventh Circuit held that the Supreme Court’s decision CIGNA Corp. v. Amara authorized an ERISA plaintiff seeking equitable relief under ERISA § 502(a)(3) to receive money damages in a fiduciary breach action. In Kenseth v. Dean Health Plan, Inc., Case No.
By: Mark Casciari and Barbara Borowski
Is a general release of “any and all” claims signed by a former employee in exchange for a severance package enforceable in an ERISA action for contested pension benefits?
On May 23, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit answered YES, in a decision in which Seyfarth…
By: John Murray and Violet Borowski
In a decision issued last week, the Seventh Circuit made clear that discretion isn’t always required for an entity to be a functional fiduciary. But at the same time, the Court reaffirmed that a functional fiduciary is only answerable under ERISA when it is acting as a fiduciary.
In…
By Kathleen Cahill Slaught and Sheryl Skibbe.
The Ninth Circuit rejected a majority of the plaintiffs’ claims against Edison International, the southern California electrical utility, for mismanagement of Edison’s 401(k) plan, dampening the glow on the plaintiffs’ only successful claim for a breach of fiduciary duty. See Edison Int’l v . Tibble, No. 10-56406 …
