Recent Publications -


Employee Relations Law Journal – From the Courts
July 29, 2019 | Insurance Coverage | Employment & Labor

Third Circuit Affirms Denial of Disability Benefits Under ‘Any Occupation’ Standard

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld a decision denying disability benefits to a claimant under the “any occupation” standard of an employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) where the plaintiff failed

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
June 26, 2019 | Insurance Coverage | Employment & Labor

5th Circuit Applies Deferential Abuse-of-Discretion Standard of Review and Upholds Claim Administrator’s Application of Plan’s Weight-Loss Surgery Exclusion

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld the adverse benefit determination of a claim administrator of a health insurance benefits plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) after

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
May 29, 2019 | Insurance Coverage | Employment & Labor

Second Circuit Finds That Claim for ERISA Pension Plan Benefits Was Time-Barred

Historically, employees leaving Xerox Corporation typically received a lump sum payment equal to the total value of their then-accrued pension benefit under the Xerox pension plan, an employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Employees who

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Employee Relations Law Journal – From the Courts
May 17, 2019 | Insurance Coverage

Sixth Circuit Affirms District Court Decision That Anesthesiologist Was Not Disabled from His Own Occupation

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s decision upholding a determination by the claim administrator of an employee welfare benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) that

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
March 4, 2019 | Insurance Coverage

Court Denies Motion to Dismiss on Failure to Exhaust Grounds When Plan Documents Were Apparently Silent with Respect to Exhaustion

The U.S. district court in Connecticut recently denied a claim administrator’s motion to dismiss a Complaint seeking short-term disability benefits under an employee welfare benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From The Courts
February 19, 2019 | Insurance Coverage | Employment & Labor

11th Circuit Holds ERISA Plan’s Anti-Assignment Provision Bars Third-Party Doctor’s Claim for Reimbursement for Services 

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) provides that plan participants and plan beneficiaries may bring a private civil action to recover benefits due under the terms of a plan, to enforce rights under a plan, or to

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From The Courts
January 22, 2019 | Insurance Coverage

U.S. District Court in Illinois Holds Two Benefit Plans Exempt from ERISA Under ERISA’s Church Plan Exemption, and Upholds Exemption’s Constitutionality

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) exempts “church plans” from its requirements. A federal court in Illinois recently considered whether certain plans sponsored by a non-profit corporation associated with an Order

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Employee Relations Law Journal – From The Courts
January 10, 2019 | Insurance Coverage

Sixth Circuit Again Rules That CBA Did Not Provide for Lifetime Retiree Healthcare Benefits

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has issued another decision concluding that a collective bargaining agreement did not provide for lifetime healthcare benefits for union retirees.

The Case

Every three to four years since 1973, General Electric Company

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
November 6, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

Federal Court Remands Case to State Court Because ERISA Did Not Preempt Claims Against Health Insurer for Revealing Plaintiff’s HIV Status

A federal district court in California held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) did not preempt a plaintiff’s claims under California law against his managed health care company for revealing

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
October 6, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

ERISA Preempts Ex-Pro Hockey Player’s State Law Claims

A federal district court in Texas has ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts state law claims brought by a former professional hockey player under an ERISA plan, funded by an insurance policy issued to the National Hockey League (the NHL).

The

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Employee Relations Law Journal – From the Courts
September 7, 2018 | Employment & Labor | Insurance Coverage

Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal for Failure to Exhaust Plan’s Administrative Remedies

Courts interpreting the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) have long held that a claimant seeking benefits under an employee benefit plan must exhaust the plan’s administrative remedies before he or she can file suit. A recent decision by the U.S. Court

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
September 7, 2018 | Insurance Coverage | Employment & Labor

ERISA Does Not Permit Plaintiffs to Rely on Same Allegations to Seek Both Equitable Relief and Benefits

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) permits a plaintiff to seek equitable relief and to seek benefits. But can a plaintiff assert separate claims for equitable relief and benefits based on the same allegations? A

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Linker Published in DRI’s ERISA Report
August 24, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

Ian Linker was published in DRI’s The ERISA Report, “When Payment of Plan Benefits Make Beneficiaries Whole They Get What They Get and They Can’t Get Upset.”

Click here to read the article.

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Linker Authors Article in Mealey’s Litigation Report
July 17, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

Ian Linker was published in Mealey’s Litigation Reports: ERISA and Disability, in a commentary piece entitled, “Reason Prevails – A Fiduciary Is Not Always A Fiduciary: Claim Administrator Not Responsible For Plan Administrator’s Errors.”

Click here to read the article.

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
July 11, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

Although Court Recognizes Claimant Has Burden to Show Exception to Limitation Applies, It Rejects Claim Administrator’s Determination and Awards Claimant Benefits

A federal district court in California has held that a plaintiff was eligible for additional long term disability benefits under a welfare benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974

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Employee Relations Law Journal – From the Courts
June 19, 2018 | Insurance Coverage | Employment & Labor

Fifth Circuit Affirms Decision Denying Attorney’s Fees to Insurer in ERISA Action

A party in a case under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) may be eligible to recover its attorney’s fees under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1) if it achieved “some degree of success on the merits.” District courts have broad discretion

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
June 19, 2018 | Insurance Coverage | Employment & Labor

Determining the appropriate standard of judicial review is the threshold issue a court decides when reviewing an adverse benefit determination under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). If the court applies the arbitrary and capricious standard of review, it gives deference to the administrator’s determination. By contrast, if it reviews the determination

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Linker Authors Article in Mealey’s Litigation Report
March 15, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

Ian Linker was published in Mealey’s Litigation Reports: ERISA and Disability, in a commentary piece entitled, “Preemption Is Preemption. Or Is It? A Recent Fifth Circuit Decision Sheds Light on the Differences between Conflict and Complete ERISA Preemption.”

Click here to read article.

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Linker Publishes Article in FC&S Legal
March 13, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

Ian Linker has published an article in FC&S Legal entitled, “To Thine Own Plan Be True: Burdens of Proof and Standards of Review Under Attack in ERISA – Benefits Litigation.”

Click here to read article.

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
March 2, 2018 | Insurance Fraud | Employment & Labor

Fifth Circuit Holds ERISA Preempts Plaintiff’s Claims under State Law, and Plaintiff’s Claim for Equitable Relief Fails as a Matter of Law

The plaintiff in this case sought to recover life insurance benefits under  an employee welfare benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Her deceased husband had been

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Linker Published in Mealey’s Litigation Report: ERISA
February 14, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

Ian Linker was published in Mealey’s Litigation Report: ERISA in a commentary piece entitled, “To Fee, Or Not To Fee. That Is The Question: In Certain Cases, Arbitrating ERISA Benefits Cases May Enable Plan Fiduciaries To Avoid Paying Plaintiffs’ Attorney’s Fees.”

To read the article click here.

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Employee Benefit Plan Review – From the Courts
February 7, 2018 | Insurance Coverage

California Federal District Court Determines “Document in Force”

As an employee of NetApp, the plaintiff participated in the company’s long-term disability (LTD) plan, an employee welfare benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). NetApp was both the plan sponsor and plan administrator. The plaintiff’s job title with NetApp was

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