A recent decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Jones v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., No. 16-1714, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8112 (8th Cir. May 8, 2017), provides another signal that those of us defending against benefit claims increasingly may have to contend with simultaneous equitable claims for breach of fiduciary duty. Though the law … Continue Reading
In Erwood v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am., Civil Action No. 14-1284, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56348 (W.D. Pa. 2017), a Federal Judge ruled after a bench trial that WellStar Health System Inc., the plan administrator of a Group Life Insurance Program (“Plan”), breached its fiduciary duty “by misrepresenting and failing to adequately inform … Continue Reading
There is a lot about ERISA litigation that is hard to understand, but perhaps the most opaque issue is subrogation, which is the law governing when and how plans can recover benefits from participants. It seems that the Supreme Court is constantly changing the rules (while denying that it’s changing the rules), based on its … Continue Reading
Bd. of Trustees v. Moore, 800 F.3d 214 (6th Cir. 2015), considered whether a summary plan description (SPD) that was the only document containing a subrogation provision was a binding plan document. The Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry (NEI Board) established a health benefits plan, pursuant to two relevant documents. The first … Continue Reading
In Oregon Teamster Employers Trust v. Hillsboro Garbage Disposal, Inc., 800 F.3d 1151 (9th Cir. 2015), the corporate defendant, Hillsboro Garbage entered into contracts with a union health plan that provided coverage for Hillsboro’s union and non-union employees. Beginning in 2003, the union received contributions for the two individual defendants, who purportedly worked for Hillsboro, … Continue Reading
In Humana Health Plan, Inc. v. Nguyen, 785 F.3d 1023 (5th Cir. 2015), Humana entered into a Plan Management Agreement (“PMA”) with the API Enterprises Employee Benefits Plan. The PMA stated that API had the right to make all discretionary decisions about the plan’s administration and management. The PMA authorized Humana to provide “subrogation/recovery services” … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit is fast making itself the center of case law on equitable remedies under ERISA. In Pearce v. Chrysler Group LLC Pension Plan, 2015 WL 3797385 (6th Cir. June 18, 2015), the court held that a material conflict between an SPD and the plan permits a claim for equitable relief, apparently without any … Continue Reading
In Stiso v. Intl. Steel Group, 2015 WL 3555917 (6th Cir. June 9, 2015), the court reversed a ruling by the district court that dismissed a claim for make-whole relief, and directed the district court “to grant an equitable remedy [against the employer and insurer] equivalent to the promised increase in benefits to plaintiff.” The … Continue Reading
We previously reported on Gabriel v. Alaska Electrical Pension Fund, 755 F.3d 647 (9th Cir. 2014), which addressed limits on make-whole relief under 1132(a)(3), and affirmed judgment for the plan fiduciary. That decision was a divided one, with a partial dissent by Judge Berzon. In December, the panel withdrew its earlier decision, and replaced it … Continue Reading
In Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Health & Welfare Fund v. Gerber Life Ins. Co., 771 F.3d 150 (2d Cir 2014), the Second Circuit joined the Fifth Circuit in ruling that an ERISA health plan generally has no equitable remedy against another insurer in a coordination of benefits dispute.… Continue Reading
In 2011, the Supreme Court issued a major ERISA decision, Cigna Corp. v. Amara, 131 S.Ct. 1866 (2011), holding that courts could not reform an ERISA plan as part of a claim for benefits under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B), but could do so as an equitable remedy under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3). The case involved a situation … Continue Reading
In 2013, the 6th Circuit made waves in the ERISA world when it held that LINA could be ordered to disgorge almost $3 million in profits it allegedly made on benefits it had improperly withheld, on top of payment of the benefits themselves. A few months later, the court granted LINA’s petition for en banc … Continue Reading
In Santomenno ex rel. John Hancock Trust v. John Hancock Life Ins. Co. (U.S.A), — F.3d –, 2014 WL 4783665 (3d Cir. Sept. 26, 2014), the plaintiffs, who were participants in employer-sponsored 401(k) benefit plans, claimed that John Hancock, an administrator that provided investment services to plans, breached its fiduciary duty by allegedly charging the … Continue Reading
In Bd. of Trustees of the Nat. Elevator Indus. Health Benefit Plan v. McLaughlin, — F.3d –, 2014 WL 4852096 (3d Cir. Oct. 1, 2014), plaintiff argued that his medical plan could not enforce an equitable lien by agreement to recover medical expenses paid because the New Jersey Collateral Source Statute (the “NJCSS”) precluded him … Continue Reading
In Gabriel v. Alaska Electrical Pension Fund, 755 F.3d 647 (9th Cir. 2014), a venal claimant met a not-very competent plan administrator, and the result was a helpful discussion of limits on make-whole equitable claims. [Note, on December 16, 2014, the Ninth Circuit panel withdrew this opinion, and replaced it with a new one, at … Continue Reading
Providing for “coordination of benefits” means including a provision in an insurance policy that address what should happen if more than one insurer covers the same claim. Virtually every primary insurance policy will say that, if other insurance exists, the other policy will pay first. Of course, when there are two policies providing coverage, each … Continue Reading
I imagine that, for a federal judge, getting reversed is not pleasant, even though it’s part of the job. Well, pity poor Judge Larimer of the Western District of New York, who has now been reversed three times in the same case – twice by the Second Circuit and once by the Supreme Court.… Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit has just taken an “unprecedented and extraordinary step to expand the scope of ERISA coverage” (in the words of the dissent) by affirming a judgment directing a disability insurer to pay about $900,000 in improperly denied benefits plus disgorge an additional $3,800,000, representing profits it allegedly made on the benefits. I agree … Continue Reading
At the District Court, Heimeshoff also argued that the limitation period in the plan should be equitably tolled because, she claimed the applicable ERISA regulation required Hartford to disclose the limitation period in its denial letter, and it failed to do so. Hartford argued that it was irrelevant whether the regulation required disclosure because Heimeshoff … Continue Reading
In a post from last year, I reported on how the Fifth Circuit had issued a decision In ACS Recovery Servs., Inc. v. Griffin, 676 F.3d 512, 514 (5th Cir. 2012), in which it held that an ERISA plan beneficiary and his lawyer had created a perfect settlement structure in which no one ever had … Continue Reading
I will be speaking in an upcoming live phone/web seminar, “ERISA Equitable Remedies After McCutchen and Amara” scheduled for Wednesday, July 10, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT. Because you are a reader of this blog, you are eligible to attend this program at half off. As long as you use the links in this post, the offer will … Continue Reading
