LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Consumer Fraud Legal News Articles & Interviews
DOL Charges TPA Embezzled ERISA Plan Assets
March 18, 2024. By Anne Wallace.
Pittsburgh, PA On February 5, the Western District of Pennsylvania issued a Temporary Restraining Order barring RiversEdge Advanced Retirement Systems, LLC and Paul Palguta, the company’s sole owner and president, from accessing the assets of various ERISA retirement plans. The Department of Labor has accused the third-party administrator of misappropriating and misallocating retirement plan assets from seventeen retirement plans, fourteen of which were covered by ERISA. The defendants also are alleged to have transferred assets among the trust accounts for these plans and generated false records to conceal these transfers. The fraudulent information provided to the plans duped them into filing false reports with the DOL, which further frustrated discovery of the embezzlement.
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Chicago Hospital Settles Class Action for $55M
February 22, 2024. By Jane Mundy.
Evanston, IL NorthShore University Health System has agreed to pay $55 million to settle a federal consumer class action lawsuit that was filed back in 2007. The settlement ends 16 years of litigation over its merger with another hospital that allegedly allowed NorthShore to illegally monopolize the market and unfairly raise prices on patients.
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Another Option for Workers Who Cannot Save through an ERISA Retirement Plan
February 8, 2024. By Anne Wallace.
San Francisco, CA In February 2022, the United States Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari filed by the petitioner in Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. The California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (CalSavers). The denial kept in place a decision of the Ninth Circuit that permitted a California-sponsored and administered retirement plan for employees of small businesses.
Read [ Another Option for Workers Who Cannot Save through an ERISA Retirement Plan ]
More Long-Term Part Timers May Now Save Through 401k ERISA Plans
January 22, 2024. By Anne Wallace.
Washington, DC Beginning on January 1, 2024, an expanded group of long-term part-time employees may be able to participate in their employer’s 401k ERISA retirement plan. It’s a small tweak in the 2019 Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) that could have major implications for young and underemployed workers who struggle to save for retirement. Many employers are still processing the changes, so it may ultimately fall to workers to ensure that they are afforded the opportunities provided by law. In most cases, a well-crafted inquiry (with the advice of competent counsel) may eliminate the need for an ERISA lawsuit.
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Are Forfeiture Lawsuits the Next Trend for ERISA Litigation in 2024?
January 3, 2024. By Anne Wallace.
Oakland, CA On December 13, Clorox Co. asked the Northern District of California to dismiss a class action ERISA breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit that targets the company’s longstanding practice of using forfeited employer contributions to participants’ accounts to reduce its required contributions to the plan. Plan participants argue that forfeited amounts should instead be used to defray the plan’s administrative expenses.
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MetLife to Settle ERISA Lawsuit for $4.5 Million
December 15, 2023. By Anne Wallace.
New York, NY On November 20 MetLife Group and a group of participants in the MetLife 401(k) Plan agreed to settle an ERISA breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit for $4.5 million. In their amended class-action complaint, plan participants accused plan fiduciaries of failing to act solely in the interest of plan participants and beneficiaries by including proprietary investment options in the plan when similar, cheaper and better-performing investments were available in the marketplace.
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ESG Rules for ERISA Plan Investing Survive Conservative Challenge
November 14, 2023. By Anne Wallace.
Amarillo, TX On September 21, US District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew J. Kasmaryk held that plan fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in choosing pension plan investments. The ERISA lawsuit, Utah v. Walsh, was seen as the “anti-woke” coalition’s best shot at limiting the range of factors that fiduciaries could consider in investment decisions.
Read [ ESG Rules for ERISA Plan Investing Survive Conservative Challenge ]
Hair Relaxer Formaldehyde and the FDA’s Failure to Warn
October 31, 2023. By Jane Mundy.
Santa Clara, CA The FDA has known since at least 2011 that hair straighteners containing formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals have made hair salon workers and their clients sick, yet it is just now considering banning hair relaxers that contain or emit the chemical by April 2024, due to a link with long-term health effects. The agency said it has been communicating with the public since 2010 about formaldehyde’s potential health concerns, and for more than a decade it has received numerous warnings, including the cosmetic industry’s own experts stating the products unsafe.
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Construction Laborers Pension Plan Sues Investment Manager for ERISA Breach
October 17, 2023. By Anne Wallace.
Los Angeles, CA On September 15, the Construction Laborers Pension Plan for Southern California and the Board of Trustees for that fund filed an ERISA lawsuit against Meketa Investment Group and Judy Chambers. The lawsuit alleges that Meketa breached its fiduciary duty to the Pension Fund by advising it to invest $30 million in participants’ retirement savings in a California-focused Infrastructure Fund to be managed by Onset General Partner, LLC. Onset was a hastily formed company with ties to Chambers. Meketa then essentially abandoned its fiduciary and contractual duties to review and monitor Onset’s investment program.
Read [ Construction Laborers Pension Plan Sues Investment Manager for ERISA Breach ]
Allianz Asset Management Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.5 Million
October 3, 2023. By Anne Wallace.
Santa Ana, CA On August 18, Allianz Asset Management of America, LLC and the Investment Committee of the Allianz Asset Management of America 401(k) Savings and Retirement Plan agreed to settle a breach of fiduciary duty ERISA lawsuit brought by former participants in the plan. The $7.5 million payout will go to roughly 5,139 participants and beneficiaries in the 401k plan, according to the filing.
Read [ Allianz Asset Management Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.5 Million ]
- Minnesota District Court Dismisses ERISA Fiduciary Breach Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Sep-5-23)
- Pfizer 401k Plan Hit with ERISA Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Aug-18-23)
- Xerox Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.2 Million plus Free or Reduced-Cost Retiree Medical and Dental Coverage By Anne Wallace (Aug-15-23)
- Xerox Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.2 Million plus Free or Reduced-Cost Retiree Medical and Dental Coverage By Anne Wallace (Jul-5-23)
- Family Feud Savages ESOP Participants’ Retirement Fund By Anne Wallace (Jun-12-23)
- ERISA Lawsuits Target Environmental, Social and Governance Factors in Plan Asset Decisions By Anne Wallace (May-16-23)
- SAG-AFTRA Health Plan To Pay $15M To Wrap ERISA Suit By LAS Staff Writer (Apr-27-23)
- What Now? Retirement Plan Cybertheft Is ERISA Lawsuit To Watch By Anne Wallace (Apr-3-23)
- Gaming Giant to Settle ERISA Lawsuit for $5.5 Million By Anne Wallace (Mar-28-23)
- Cumulus Media Settles ERISA class action for $1M By Jane Mundy (Mar-21-23)
- ERISA Lawsuit Settlement Hits Stumbling Block By Anne Wallace (Jan-30-23)
- L3 Technologies ERISA Lawsuit Seeks Class Action Status By Anne Wallace (Dec-28-22)
- Yale University Pension Plan Lawsuit Heading to Jury Trial By Anne Wallace (Dec-12-22)
- Booz Allen Hamilton BlackRock Target Date Funds at Heart of New ERISA Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Dec-4-22)
- Parties to Settle 401k Fiduciary Breach Lawsuit in Reichert v. Juniper Networks, Inc. By Anne Wallace (Oct-31-22)
- Insurance Companies in Denial regarding Long COVID By Jane Mundy (Sep-15-22)
- $90 Million Missing -- “Embezzlement and fraud,” cry AME Pastors in Pension Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Sep-14-22)
- Costco Settles Excessive Fee ERISA Lawsuit for $5.1 Million By Anne Wallace (Aug-29-22)
- Emergency Departments Still Overcharging Patients, Lawsuit Filed By Jane Mundy (Aug-18-22)
- United Airlines Appears to Stiff Early Retirees By Anne Wallace (Aug-8-22)
- Former Head of Third-Party Billing Company on trial for Health Care Fraud By Anne Wallace (Jul-21-22)
- Mental Health Patient Advocates Fight Wit Reversal By Anne Wallace (Jul-18-22)
- Can my Employer Cut my Health Benefits after I Retire? By Anne Wallace (Jul-6-22)
- Increased Emergency Room Charges Loom for Patients at Critical Access Hospitals By Anne Wallace (Jul-5-22)
- Covid Long-Haulers and Denied Disability By Jane Mundy (Jun-24-22)
- ERISA Lawsuit Alleges that ESOP Fiduciaries Cheated Participants By Anne Wallace (May-31-22)
- Plaintiffs Seek Recusal of Latest Judge in Home Depot ERISA Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (May-16-22)
- Alcoa Fights Retirees’ ERISA Lawsuit over Health Benefits Plan By Anne Wallace (May-10-22)
- Teamsters Sue UPS for Pension and Welfare Contributions By Anne Wallace (Apr-30-22)
- Long-Term Disability Attorney Discusses Long-COVID Disability Claims By Jane Mundy (Apr-27-22)
- More Hospital Overcharges Lawsuits against TeamHealth “Cartel” By Jane Mundy (Apr-6-22)
- Coca-Cola Bottler to Settle ERISA lawsuit for $3.5 Million By Anne Wallace (Mar-21-22)
- UnitedHealthcare Cites Upcoding Fraud in Lawsuit against Emergency Room Staffing Company By Anne Wallace (Mar-9-22)
- The No Surprises Act Not Foolproof By Jane Mundy (Feb-23-22)
- ERISA Lawsuit Nets Nearly $9.4 Million for Plan Participants By Anne Wallace (Feb-10-22)
- Mother Files Lawsuit Claiming Similac Infant Formula Caused Baby’s Death By Jane Mundy (Jan-30-22)
- ERISA Lawsuit Against UnitedHealth Subsidiary Gets Class Action Status By Anne Wallace (Jan-7-22)
- Bronson Healthcare to Settle Excessive Fee ERISA Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Dec-29-21)
- University of Miami to Settle ERISA Lawsuit for $1.85 Million By Anne Wallace (Dec-23-21)
- TeamHealth vs. United HealthCare Services By Jane Mundy (Dec-21-21)