LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Anne Wallace
Anne Wallace is a New York lawyer, currently living in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. She writes on legal and business issues and teaches at the college and professional level. Anne graduated from Fordham Law School and Wellesley College.
$9.5 Million Army Hospital Medical Malpractice Settlement
July 12, 2024.
Honolulu, HI It was error after error that killed Julie Bond. She was the 31-year-old wife of former Army Staff Sgt. Donald Bond and a healthy mother of three. She just wanted to lose those extra pregnancy pounds. But six weeks after laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, she was dead. Tripler Army Medical Center ultimately settled the medical malpractice lawsuit brought by her family for $9.5 million.
Read [ $9.5 Million Army Hospital Medical Malpractice Settlement ]
Loper Bright Fuels Fifth Circuit ERISA Lawsuit
July 11, 2024.
New Orleans, LA On July 9, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard a new challenge to a Department of Labor rule, which permits ERISA plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their plan investment decisions.
Read [ Loper Bright Fuels Fifth Circuit ERISA Lawsuit ]
Qualcomm 401k Plan Participants Sue over Use of Forfeitures
July 8, 2024.
San Diego, CA – On May 24, the Southern District of California denied Qualcomm Inc.’s motion to dismiss a class action 401k lawsuit brought by participants in the Qualcomm Incorporated Employee Savings and Retirement Plan. Perez-Cruet v. Qualcomm, Inc. alleges that Qualcomm violated the fiduciary duty and anti-inurement provisions of ERISA by using the forfeited money to reduce future employer matching contributions instead of eliminating the expenses that were charged to participant accounts.
Read [ Qualcomm 401k Plan Participants Sue over Use of Forfeitures ]
Disabled Vet Challenges Medical Malpractice Ban in Supreme Court
July 1, 2024.
Washington, DC On June 5, Staff Sgt. Ryan Carter, filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging a 1950 judge-made rule that prevents “tortiously injured military service members” from filing veterans medical malpractice lawsuits against the federal government. The “Feres doctrine,” as this rule is known, has come under increasing criticism in recent years. Carter’s challenge stands out, however, because the facts giving rise to its application in his case are particularly troubling.
Read [ Disabled Vet Challenges Medical Malpractice Ban in Supreme Court ]
J&J Offers $6.48 Billion to Settle Ovarian Cancer Talcum Powder Lawsuits
June 29, 2024.
Trenton, NJ In May, Johnson & Johnson offered to pay roughly $6.48 billion over 25 years to settle all current and future talcum powder lawsuits. These lawsuits allege that baby powder containing asbestos-contaminated talc caused ovarian cancer. Erik Haas, J&J's worldwide vice president of litigation, insists that this offer is fundamentally different than the two that courts rejected before. If accepted, it would resolve 99.75 percent of J&J’s remaining talc lawsuits in the U.S.
Read [ J&J Offers $6.48 Billion to Settle Ovarian Cancer Talcum Powder Lawsuits ]
Can a TPA’s Exploitation of a Plan Sponsor’s Breach of ERISA Duty Make the TPA a Fiduciary?
June 27, 2024.
New York, NY On May 31, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America’s (TIAA) motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit that accused the insurance giant of aggressive and misleading sales tactics. TIAA’s “fear selling” strategy was crafted to persuade pension plan participants to move their accounts out of ERISA-protected plans into more expensive proprietary investment products marketed by TIAA.
Read [ Can a TPA’s Exploitation of a Plan Sponsor’s Breach of ERISA Duty Make the TPA a Fiduciary? ]
VA Hospital Settles Medical Malpractice Lawsuit for $880,000
June 17, 2024.
Columbia, SC William Whittaker, an Army veteran, died on March 27, 2022 of lung cancer. He was 64. His widow filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina’s federal district court. The lawsuit alleged that his death could have been prevented with timely diagnosis and treatment of a condition known to his doctor since 2020. The claim, essentially, is that he died of medical neglect. On April 5, the hospital agreed to settle the lawsuit for $880,000. These are the bare bones of a terrible family story.
Read [ VA Hospital Settles Medical Malpractice Lawsuit for $880,000 ]
VA Settles Veteran PTSD Suicide Lawsuit for $1.7 Million
June 5, 2024.
South Bend, IN In May, the Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by the family of Jason Moon for $1.7 million. Moon had served two tours as a medical evacuation crew member during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He shot himself to death in 2022 while at home with his wife and children. The medical malpractice lawsuit filed by his widow alleges that Moon had never been properly diagnosed or treated for severe post-traumatic stress syndrome at the South Bend Vet Center.
Read [ VA Settles Veteran PTSD Suicide Lawsuit for $1.7 Million ]
Musk Accused of Cheating Twitter Execs out of Severance Pay
May 23, 2024.
San Francisco, CA On March 4, former Twitter executives Parag Agrawal, Ned Segal, Vijaya Gadde and Sean Edgett filed an ERISA lawsuit against Elon Musk and X Corp. (f/k/a/ Twitter) alleging that Musk and X Corp. had failed to pay severance benefits as required by the provisions of the law and the plan documents. The four argue that they are owed a combined $128 million in severance pay.
Read [ Musk Accused of Cheating Twitter Execs out of Severance Pay ]
Surgeons Warned to Stop Using Synovo Total Hip Implants
April 24, 2024.
Silver Spring, MD On January 3, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an updated advisory to medical professionals warning them not to purchase or implant, and to remove from their inventory all Synovo Total Hip Systems because the devices have been substantially modified since their initial 1991 approval. The gathering storm of Synovo hip failure lawsuits is only a part of the larger picture of hip implant litigation that now also involves devices manufactured by Exactech, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, and Zimmer.
Read [ Surgeons Warned to Stop Using Synovo Total Hip Implants ]
- Maryland Orders Employer to Fork Over Missed Contributions to 401k Plan (Apr-22-24)
- Johnson & Johnson Strikes Back (Apr-5-24)
- Exactech Defective Hip Implant MDL Takes Shape (Mar-25-24)
- DOL Charges TPA Embezzled ERISA Plan Assets (Mar-18-24)
- Last Dance, Last Chance for the Texas Two-Step in J&J Talc Litigation (Feb-28-24)
- PAGA To Face Critical Test on November 2024 Ballot (Feb-20-24)
- New York MDL Consolidates Growing Number of Exactech Defective Hip Implant Lawsuits (Feb-9-24)
- Another Option for Workers Who Cannot Save through an ERISA Retirement Plan (Feb-8-24)
- Johnson & Johnson to Pay $700 Million to Settle State AG Lawsuits (Jan-23-24)
- More Long-Term Part Timers May Now Save Through 401k ERISA Plans (Jan-22-24)
- Are Forfeiture Lawsuits the Next Trend for ERISA Litigation in 2024? (Jan-3-24)
- MetLife to Settle ERISA Lawsuit for $4.5 Million (Dec-15-23)
- Barge Worker Not Required to Arbitrate California Wage Claims (Dec-13-23)
- Amazon Retaliates against Women Demanding Fair Pay (Dec-7-23)
- Lawsuit Links PFAS PFOA Water Contamination to Ulcerative Colitis (Nov-27-23)
- Jury Awards $107 Million in Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuit (Nov-22-23)
- Home Healthcare Employer Settles Wage Lawsuit for $700,000 (Nov-19-23)
- ESG Rules for ERISA Plan Investing Survive Conservative Challenge (Nov-14-23)
- Customer Service Representatives Stiffed of Pre- and Post-Shift Wages (Oct-23-23)
- Exposure to PFAS Doubles Cancer Risk in Women (Oct-18-23)
- Construction Laborers Pension Plan Sues Investment Manager for ERISA Breach (Oct-17-23)
- Allianz Asset Management Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.5 Million (Oct-3-23)
- $12.5 Billion PFAS Settlement Revised to Extend 3M Liability (Sep-29-23)
- Minnesota District Court Dismisses ERISA Fiduciary Breach Lawsuit (Sep-5-23)
- Maryland’s Largest Water Utility Files PFAS Lawsuit (Aug-30-23)
- Pfizer 401k Plan Hit with ERISA Lawsuit (Aug-18-23)
- Xerox Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.2 Million plus Free or Reduced-Cost Retiree Medical and Dental Coverage (Aug-15-23)
- 3M to Settle PFAS/PFOA Water Contamination Lawsuit for $10.3 Billion (Jul-24-23)
- Xerox Settles ERISA Lawsuit for $7.2 Million plus Free or Reduced-Cost Retiree Medical and Dental Coverage (Jul-5-23)
- J&J Talcum Powder Lawsuit Begins May 31, Despite Bankruptcy Stay (Jun-27-23)
- As Goes the Water in Waterville, so Goes the Nation’s (Jun-13-23)
- Family Feud Savages ESOP Participants’ Retirement Fund (Jun-12-23)
- State AGs Join Opposition to LTL Bankruptcy in Talcum Powder Lawsuits (May-29-23)
- PFAS Linked to Obesity (May-26-23)
- Enfamil Linked to Preemie Blindness, Cerebral Palsy (May-23-23)
- San Francisco Superior Court: Pay Banquet Servers $9 Million (May-18-23)
- ERISA Lawsuits Target Environmental, Social and Governance Factors in Plan Asset Decisions (May-16-23)
- Ninth Circuit Overturns California’s “No Forced Arbitration Law” (Apr-30-23)
- Johnson & Johnson Offers $8.9 Billion to Settle Talcum Powder Lawsuits (Apr-29-23)
- Can PFAS and PFOAs be Scrubbed from Drinking Water? (Apr-27-23)