Penalties for Failure to Provide ERISA Plan Documents

Pursuant to ERISA, a federal law that governs employee insurance benefits provided by private employers, plan administrators have an obligation to provide plan documents when an employee becomes covered by an insurance plan or upon written request. If the plan administrator – usually the employer – fails to provide these documents, then the plan administrator could be liable for penalties. …

ERISA Claims for Breach of Fiduciary Duty

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act is a federal law that governs claims for benefits under most insurance plans sponsored by private employers. ERISA provides a cause of action for the denial of benefits in 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B). It also provides for a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty in 29 U.S.C § 1132(a)(3).  The latter provision …

Massachusetts Judge Finds for Insurance Company in ERISA Case After Widow Sues on Denied Accidental Death Insurance Claim

Published by The Pellegrin Firm February 15, 2021

In a recent decision, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts found for an insurer in a lawsuit brought by a widow challenging the denial of an accidental death insurance claim. The plaintiff was an employee of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which sponsored the spousal accidental death insurance as an employee benefit.

What Must an ERISA Summary Plan Description Contain?

Published by The Pellegrin Firm October 18, 2020

According to a provision of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1024(b)(1), ERISA plan administrators must provide a summary plan description (“SPD”) to beneficiaries and the SPD must “reasonably apprise [plan] participants and beneficiaries of their rights and obligations under the plan” and must be “written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant.”

New Orleans Federal Judge Denies Motion for Summary Judgment in Disability Insurance Case, Finding Disputed Issues of Fact Exist

Published by The Pellegrin Firm September 27, 2020

In a recent ruling, U.S. District Court judge Martin Feldman of the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans denied a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of whether the disability insurance policy he was suing on was governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). ERISA is a federal law that governs insurance policies that are part of group plans sponsored by private employers. In most litigation, the standard of review is more plaintiff-friendly under state insurance law than under ERISA. In addition, state law provides for remedies and penalties that ERISA does not.