DYLAN RUDOLPH and CLARISSA KANG, April 21, 2022 In a rather surprising move, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued two short decisions within the span of a week, which reversed lower court dismissals in 401(k) fee cases brought against Salesforce.com, Inc. and Trader Joe’s Company. A motion to dismiss challenges the quality of a […]
Author: Trucker Huss
JENNIFER WONG, March 31, 2022 On February 23, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated certain provisions of the interim final regulations (IFR) which the tri-agency Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued pursuant to the surprise medical billing rules under the No Surprises Act […]
RYAN KADEVARI and JENNIFER TRUONG, February 22, 2022 On February 4, 2022, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released additional guidance concerning group health plan and health insurance coverage of over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic tests (“OTC Tests”). The guidance complements an initial set of FAQs previously issued […]
JOELLE TAVAN, February 22, 2022 For a number of years, the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), the Department of Labor (DOL)’s branch responsible for administering and enforcing the fiduciary, reporting, and disclosure provisions of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), has made missing plan participants one of its key […]
ANGEL L. GARRETT and CATHERINE L. REAGAN, February 4, 2022 With 401(k) plan excessive fee litigation sweeping the nation, the wait is finally over: The Supreme Court has issued a decision which plan fiduciaries anticipated might revolutionize excessive fee case pleading standards — Hughes v. Northwestern University.1 On January 24, 2022, the Supreme Court held […]
MARY E. POWELL, January 11, 2022 On January 10, 2022, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued FAQs Part 51 (FAQs) regarding the requirement for health plans to cover over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 diagnostic testing (“OTC COVID Tests”). This will be required effective with OTC COVID Tests purchased on and after […]
SHANNON OLIVER, December 15, 2021 On November 4, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2021-61, containing the cost-of-living adjustments related to retirement plan limitations under the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). These changes will take effect on January 1, 2022. Below are some of the highlights. I. Limitations That Have Increased The limitation on […]
MARY E. POWELL, August 31, 2021 On August 20, 2021, the Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury (collectively, the Departments), issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the implementation of certain provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Fortunately, several of the most complicated […]
T. KATURI KAYE and NICOLAS DEGUINES, August, 2021 On July 16, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2021-30, an updated version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), which we will refer to in this article as the “EPCRS Update.” This article summarizes the significant changes and revisions made by the […]
SARAH KANTER, July, 2021 After the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) and release of DOL model notices and FAQs on April 7, 2021, employers and other plan sponsors were still left with many open questions regarding the implementation of COBRA premium assistance. The IRS provided clarity to many of these […]
DYLAN D. RUDOLPH and ROBERT R. GOWER, July, 2021 The uptick in lawsuits now commonly referred to as “excessive fee” fiduciary breach litigation began on September 11, 2006, when a St. Louis firm, Schlichter Bogard & Denton, filed its initial tranche of lawsuits against the fiduciaries of multiple large corporate 401(k) plans. In the fifteen […]
BRYAN J. CARD, June, 2021 On April 27, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published guidance in the form of five questions and answers (the “Q&A Guidance”) on the partial plan termination relief provided under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”), which was signed into law on December 27, 2020. This partial plan termination […]
NICOLAS DEGUINES and R. BRADFORD HUSS, June, 2021 The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in the recent case of In re Becker, No. 20-72805, 2021 WL 1219745 (9th Cir. Apr. 1, 2021), upheld the use of forum selection clauses in Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) governed plans as […]
JENNIFER WONG and NICOLAS DEGUINES, April 29, 2021 On April 14, 2021, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) issued its first cybersecurity guidance for plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, recordkeepers, and plan participants.1 Intended to complement EBSA’s regulations on electronic records and disclosures to plan participants and beneficiaries, the guidance is comprised […]
CATHERINE REAGAN and R. BRADFORD HUSS, April 29, 2021 In an emerging theory of liability, plan fiduciaries’ treatment of participants’ personal data is coming under scrutiny. Over the last five years, we have seen how the collection of many individuals’ personal data can become a valuable asset in the right hands — whether it’s used […]
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