cmonfils | February 8, 2012
Two important cases provide good reminders to plan fiduciaries about (1) the importance of documentation of fiduciary processes, and (2) accurate communication of plan design changes to participants and beneficiaries.
cmonfils | January 25, 2012
Insurance coverage can be a confusing thing. Coverage for employee benefit plan fiduciaries sometimes adds a wrinkle to the process that can be overlooked. Depending on the type of claim asserted, there are a variety of “coverage” options that may apply. I think the new fee disclosure rules are likely to increase claims for breach of fiduciary duty in the future, but even without that development, it makes sense to at least know whether you have coverage and what your options are. So let’s take a look at some of the options.
cmonfils | January 15, 2012
Not to be too flippant or cynical, but whenever, over the years, I have heard an economist base a nice, highly logical, elegantly structured analysis on the underlying base assumption that investors or business people or consumers are acting rationally – without accounting for the likelihood that they won’t actually do that – I understand anew why cynics call economics the dismal science (I often like to cross-examine economists by asking them about that reputation, if for no other reason than the sport of it). As a result, nothing about this article by Michael Lewis on the extensive literature in psychology – including Nobel Prize winning work –concerning the utterly non-rational behavior of individuals and the problems it exposes in economic theory really came as a surprise to me.
cmonfils | January 8, 2012
Many plan sponsors have not paid much attention to the U.S. Department of Labor’s current effort to substantially broaden the definition of a plan fiduciary, agrees Lynn Dudley, Senior Vice President, Policy, at the Washington-based American Benefits Council. They do it at their peril, she suggests. “Because there are so many lawsuits based on investment menus and investment choices, this is not something to take lightly,” she says.
cmonfils | January 3, 2012
Employer’s Guide to Self-Insuring Health Benefits December 2011 | Vol. 19, No.3
In a lawsuit involving denied gastric repair services, a third-party administrator (TPA) argued its way out of an ERISA claim for denied benefits and alleging fiduciary abuse, after the court agreed it only did what the plan sponsor told it in documents, e-mails and conversations.
The plaintiff accused the TPA of being a de facto plan administrator, in spite of the fact the plan document expressly disavowed any fiduciary role for the TPA. (more…)
cmonfils | August 30, 2011
www.ebn.benefitnews.com August 2011 VOL 25 NO 10
By Richard Stolz August 1, 2011
New DOL regulations raise the bar for plan fiduciaries.
The job of being a retirement plan fiduciary may soon be a more lonely experience. Or maybe it will just seem that way under the Department of Labor’s 408(b)(2) regulations. Earlier this year, the agency extended the compliance date for the new disclosure rules under ERISA section 408(b)(2) from July 16, 2011, to Jan. 1, 2012, meaning retirement plan service providers have more time to prepare before they are required to disclose to plan sponsors that they are indeed acting as a plan fiduciary. Further, the extension pushes back the transition rule for providing initial disclosures from 60 days after the effective date to 120 days after the effective date. Thus, for calendar-year plans, initial disclosures don’t need to be made until April 30, 2012. (more…)
cmonfils | August 15, 2011
www.wnj.com Jennifer A. Watkins 8/9/2011
The Department of Labor (DOL) is in the process of adding hundreds of investigators to its staff. And since DOL investigators are responsible for enforcement of fiduciary, reporting and disclosure requirements for employee benefit plans, that means you had better be following the letter of the law. In 2010, the DOL conducted 3,112 civil investigations, almost 75 percent of which resulted in findings of one or more violations. (more…)
cmonfils | June 13, 2011
by Keith R. McMurdy
Your communications with your attorney are not privileged. Wow, that is a scary thought, isn’t it?
Courts have carved out a very broad exception to the attorney-client privilege in the context of fiduciary litigation. When an attorney advises a fiduciary about the administration of a benefit plan, courts have found that the attorney’s client is actually the beneficiaries of the plan and not the fiduciary personally. (more…)
cmonfils | May 16, 2011
www.ebn.benefitnews.com By Robert C. Lawton May 1, 2011
Coming to terms with when you are, aren’t a fiduciary, and for how long
Our clients often ask us to define who in their organizations are fiduciaries to their retirement plans and exactly what it means to be a fiduciary. Many times, our clients are surprised by the answers that they get. You may be as well. (more…)
cmonfils | April 8, 2011
www.healthplanlaw.com Roy Harmon III
April 6, 2011 ·
. . . our decision does not prevent Henderson from bringing a subsequent action pursuant to ERISA Section 502(a)(1)(B) to recover benefits associated with any unjustly withheld compensation that she receives if she is successful in her state wage lawsuit. Indeed, at oral argument, UPMC agreed that were it to be established in state court that Henderson should have been paid for the additional hours she alleges, UPMC will make the corresponding contributions to these plans. (more…)
cmonfils | February 2, 2011
January 26, 2011. By LAS Newswire Email
Janesville, WI: A Department of Labor lawsuit against a Janesville, Wisconsin company is reportedly the result of an investigation into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), according to the Janesville Gazette.
The department has filed the lawsuit against Premier Vending and its president, accusing the company of using employee retirement contributions for itself, according to the news source. (more…)
Adam V. Russo | October 25, 2010
MyHealthGuide, www.myhealthguide.com
Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a proposed rule to update the definition of “fiduciary” to more broadly define the term as a person who provides investment advice to plans for a fee or other compensation.
The department’s proposed rule would amend a 1975 regulation that defines when a person providing investment advice becomes a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The proposed amendment would update that definition to take into account changes in the expectations of plan officials and participants who receive advice, as well as the practices of investment advice providers. (more…)
Adam V. Russo | September 1, 2010
SIIA, www.siia.org
By Thomas A. Croft, Esq.
I. The Supreme Court Clarifies ERISA Attorney Fee Provision
We have two reasons for reviewing Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 130 S. Ct. 2149 (2010). First, it is the latest ERISA decision from the Supreme Court cases define ERISA jurisprudence, they cannot be ignored. Second, the case addresses an issue near and dear to our hearts – attorneys’ fees.
On its facts, Hardt is something of a plain vanilla disability case. Hardt was an executive assistant to the president of Dan River, Inc., a textile manufacturer. After being diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, Hardt applied for long term disability (“LTD”) benefits. Her claim was denied by Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (“Reliance”), Dan Rivers’ LTD insurer. On appeal, Reliance reversed itself in part and determined that Hardt was totally disabled from performing her current job, thus entitling her to 24 months of coverage. (more…)
Adam V. Russo | May 25, 2010
By Chris Carosa | May 18, 2010
Congress, regulators and the financial industry itself sit on the cusp of requiring all financial service providers who provide investment advice to adopt the fiduciary standard. Now is a great time for ERISA Plan Sponsors (as well as those who provide investment advice to ERISA plans or participants), to familiarize themselves with the nature of fiduciary duties. The anticipated change in the law may expose these officers and vendors to a fiduciary liability they might not have anticipated. (more…)
