I enjoyed this post on a fundamental question in ERISA denial of benefit litigation, namely which of the many entities involved with a plan – employer, plan sponsor, fiduciary, claim administrator, insurer, and so on – is a proper defendant to such a claim. As the post points out, correctly, there is some ambiguity on
Benefit Litigation
Opening Up the Courthouse Door: The Second Circuit Weighs in on Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Benefit Litigation, Employee Benefit Plans
If one theme has emerged from my numerous blog posts over the last seven years and across the various articles I have written on ERISA litigation during that time span, it is the centrality of operational competence in sponsoring and administering ERISA plans. I have, for instance, often argued that, when it comes to ERISA…
Me, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and Gross v. Sun Life
Eric Berkman’s article in this week’s Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on Gross v. Sun Life, in which I am quoted, does an excellent job of explaining the case, particularly to those readers who do not have years of experience with ERISA cases, benefit litigation, or the long history of the law in this circuit…
A State of the Art ERISA Benefits Decision from the First Circuit: Gross v Sun Life
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Great, great decision out of the First Circuit a few days ago on ERISA benefits litigation, covering, in no particular order: what language is necessary to establish discretionary review; when does the safe harbor exception to preemption apply; when is an LTD policy part of an ERISA governed plan; the proper weight and mode of…
Futility Is Not in the Eye of the Beholder, But Depends on the Facts
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Benefit Litigation
I have written and spoken on a number of occasions about the extent to which courts will enforce the exhaustion doctrine with regard to benefit claims, and about the exceptions that exist to exhaustion; I have litigated those disputes as well, in a number of contexts running from top-hat plans involving substantial deferred compensation to…
My Journal of Pension Benefits Article on Operational Competence after Amara
For years, in speeches and articles, I have preached the gospel of what I have come to call “defensive plan building,” which is the process of systemically building out plan documents, procedures and operations in manners that will limit the likelihood of a plan sponsor or fiduciary being sued while increasing the likelihood that, if…
And a Third Post on Tibble: Thoughts on Revenue Sharing and the Small Recovery for the Class
And the Ninth Circuit Swings Away at Tibble v. Edison . . .
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Well, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the District Court’s well-crafted opinion in Tibble v. Edison. I discussed the District Court’s opinion in detail in my article on excessive fee claims, Retreat From the High Water Mark. From a precedential perspective, as well as from the point…
Some Thoughts on Kirkendall v. Halliburton
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I have passed along on Twitter (https://twitter.com/SDRosenbergEsq) some of the better reviews that have crossed my desk of the Second Circuit’s recent decision in Kirkendall v. Halliburton, Inc., in which the Court held that a plan participant did not have to exhaust administrative remedies in an ERISA plan where the plan document itself…
Don’t Look Back, Something Might Be Gaining On You: Whether a Plan Administrator Can Raise New Bases For Denying a Claim Beyond Those Raised in the Initial Denial of Benefits
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Benefit Litigation, Long Term Disability Benefits
What do these two stories have in common, the first about a claims administrator not being allowed to change the basis for a denial of benefits during the internal appeal and the second about an administrator not being allowed to deny benefits based on factual investigation during litigation? They both highlight the importance, for the…