The Pension Protection Act Blog

If a condition is grave enough to warrant disability in 1994, why isn’t it sufficient to warrant disability in 2006? The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals addressed this question in Jenkins v. Price Waterhouse Long Term Disability Plan, No. 06 C 603 (May 4, 2009).
In 1994, Charles Jenkins started receiving long-term disability benefits under [...]

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In Halbach v. Great-West Life & Annuity, No. 07-3865/07-3867 (CA8 April 13, 2009), the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed what constitutes a valid amendment to an employee welfare benefit plan. In 2004, Great-West provided a package of medical coverage to both active employees and former employees who were also receiving long-term disability [...]

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In PBGC v. Oneida, No. 08-2964-bk (CA 2nd, April 8, 2009), the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit reversed the decision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The 2nd Circuit found that payments due to the PBGC as a result of an employer’s termination of a pension [...]

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It took just 8 days for the ERISA-related litigation over the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 to begin. When President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act into law on January 29, 2009, it was heralded among the non-ERISA community as creating a new world of equal pay for equal work. Among [...]

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“ERISA provides no exception to the plan administrator’s duty to act in accordance with plan documents.”
- Headnote 2, Kennedy v. Plan Administrators for Dupont Savings.
In the game of QDRO beneficiary tug-of-war between an ex-wife and daughter over a deceased participant’s account balance, the U.S. Supreme Court today found in favor of the ex-wife in Kennedy [...]

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“This case requires us to once again navigate the complex statutory scheme set out in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974….”

- Judge Clifton, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided whether or not a participant in a plan with a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity (QJSA) may change [...]

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When is comes to litigating over alleged fiduciary breaches, when is a terminated employee no longer a participant. If you think the answer should be as soon as the terminated employee receives a lump sum distribution of their entire account balance, you would be incorrect according to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. [...]

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In a fascinating and completely unexpected twist to the U.S. Sugar ESOP class action lawsuit, the governor of Florida today announced that the State of Florida will buy U.S. Sugar for $1.75 billion. With the purchase, Florida will gain control over 187,000 acres of farmland in the northern Everglades while leasing the land back [...]

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Often the entity that administers the plan, such as an employer or an insurance company, both determines whether an employee is eligible for benefits and pays benefits out of its own pocket. We here decide that this dual role creates a conflict of interest; that a reviewing court should consider that conflict as a factor [...]

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When the IRS issued Announcement 2002-2, the Service made a tantalizing offer to taxpayers with possible tax shelter issues. In exchange for disclosure, the IRS offered to waive the accuracy penalty and underpayment of tax related to tax shelters. Announcement 2002-2 contains a list of 7 items under the title of “Information Required [...]

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