In Aisenberg v. Reliance Standard Ins. Co., No. 1:22cv125 (DJN), 2024 WL 2154739 (E.D. Va. May 14, 2024), Virginia Eastern District Judge David J. Novak granted Plaintiff’s Motion to Determine Sum Certain finding that Defendant Reliance Standard had abused its discretion by determining that Plaintiff’s earned-income Social Security benefits, as opposed to the Social Security benefits received due to his disability, could be offset against Plaintiff’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits. This matter commenced over two years ago, when Plaintiff appealed Reliance’s initial determination that he w ..read more

Mator v. Wesco Distribution, Inc., No. 22-2552, __F.4th__, 2024 WL 2198120 (3d Cir. May 16, 2024) (Before: Hardiman, Porter, and Fisher, Circuit Judges). Plaintiffs-Appellants Nancy and Robert Mator brought an action on behalf of themselves and other plan participants and beneficiaries against Wesco Distribution, Inc., and fiduciaries of the Wesco Distribution, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan, for breaching their ERISA duty of prudence by causing the Plan to pay excessive recordkeeping fees, by offering mutual fund investment options in higher-cost share classes, and by breaching their duty to mo ..read more

In Kim v. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, No. 823CV01579DOCADS, 2024 WL 2106240 (C.D. Cal. May 9, 2024), California Central District Judge David O. Carter granted judgment to Plaintiff finding that Guardian had improperly determined that Plaintiff’s long-term disability (“LTD”) claim was excluded from coverage based on the LTD policy’s pre-existing condition exclusion. Plaintiff was employed at Dreamhaven, Inc. as an Art Director and was a participant in the company’s group LTD plan insured by Guardian. On or about January 5, 2021, Plaintiff began to suffer from fever, chills ..read more

In Bafford v. Admin. Comm. of Northrop Grumman Pension Plan, No. 22-55634, __F.4th__, 2024 WL 2067884 (9th Cir. May 9, 2024), decided by Circuit Judges Morgan Christen, Roopali H. Desai, and Anthony D. Johnstone, the Ninth Circuit again considered this dispute involving Northrop Grumman’s provision of inaccurate pension benefit statements to Plaintiffs Evelyn Wilson and Stephen Bafford. In the court’s first decision, Bafford v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 994 F.3d 1020 (9th Cir. 2021), the court held “that an online inquiry may qualify as a written request and trigger a plan administrator’s statut ..read more

In Diederichs v. FCA US LLC, No. 23-11287, 2024 WL 1957328 (E.D. Mich. Apr. 30, 2024), Michigan Eastern District Magistrate Judge Curits Ivy, Jr. granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s action seeking disability benefits under the employer’s Disability Assistance Program (“DAP”) followed by long-term disability (“LTD”) benefits. Plaintiff brought this action as conservator for her husband, who stopped working due to early onset Alzheimer’s Disease in October 2018. He was placed on suspended status with pay until his termination in December 2018. Although Plaintiff provided notice of ..read more

In Artz v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 23-2269, __F.4th__, 2024 WL 1986000 (7th Cir. May 6, 2024), the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Company on Plaintiff-Appellant Donald Artz’s claim for long-term disability benefits under ERISA Section 502(a)(1)(B). Artz claimed disability under his employer’s disability plan due to the fatigue and cognitive difficulties associated with multiple sclerosis and his inability to work his employer’s required 12-hour shifts. The court determined that Hartf ..read more

In Cedeno v. Sasson, No. 21-2891-CV, __F.4th__, 2024 WL 1895053 (2d Cir. May 1, 2024), a putative class action seeking relief under ERISA Section 502(a)(2), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals joined the Third, Seventh, and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals in holding that an arbitration provision which operates as a prospective waiver of substantive, plan-wide remedies under ERISA is unenforceable. Ramon Dejesus Cedeno sued his former employer and others for Defendant Argent Trust Company’s alleged breaches of fiduciary duty relating to the Strategic Employee Stock Ownership Plan’s (“the Plan ..read more

In A. Griffin v. United Healthcare Services, Inc., No. 23-13429, 2024 WL 1855456 (11th Cir. Apr. 29, 2024), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Dr. Griffin’s lawsuit seeking damages under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(c)(1) against United Healthcare Services, Inc. for United’s failure to provide her with certain documents connected to her treatment of two patients. Dr. Griffin argued that she has the right to sue under ERISA based on an assignment of “rights and benefits” that she received from her patients. The Eleventh Circuit held that a patient does not transfer the right to assert ERISA cla ..read more

In Morales v. CoAdvantage Corp., No. 6:24-cv-117-JA-DCI, 2024 WL 1678250 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 18, 2024), Florida Middle District Judge John Antoon, II granted in part Defendants’ motions to dismiss finding that although Plaintiffs’ complaint had not adequately stated claims for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA Section 1132(a)(3), that the Count could be rewritten and brought in the alternative to the Section 1132(a)(1)(B) claim for benefits. The Complaint alleges that Plaintiffs are the primary beneficiaries to a group life insurance plan insured by Unum in which the decedent was a participant ..read more

In Appvion, Inc. Ret. Sav. & Emp. Stock Ownership Plan by & through Lyon v. Buth, No. 23-1073, __F.4th__, 2024 WL 1739032 (7th Cir. Apr. 23, 2024), Plaintiff-Appellant is the Appvion, Inc. Savings and Employee Stock Ownership Plan, for which Grant Lyon was authorized to act on its behalf by a bankruptcy court. Following Appvion, Inc.’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2017, Lyon brought many claims—ERISA, federal securities law, and various state laws—against many defendants related to his theory that the defendants fraudulently inflated the company’s price in 2001, when it was sold to its ..read more