The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a proposed rule on December 27, 2022, that would permanently allow remote witnessing of spousal consent elections under certain circumstances. The proposed rule would go into effect six months after publication in the Federal Register. Taxpayers can continue to make remote spousal consent elections according to the proposed rule until it formally goes into Read More
No Surprises Act Gives Plan Sponsors Savings Opportunities
By Grant Shuman, Tim Kennedy and Anne Tyler Hall (March 22, 2023, 5:36 PM EDT) The No Surprises Act, enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and made effective Jan. 1, 2022, was designed to protect patients from surprise bills for emergency services at out-of-network facilities — or out- of-network providers at in-network facilities — holding patients liable only for in-network Read More
SEC Declines to Fine McDonald’s After Corporation Claws Back Former CEO’s $105 Million Salary
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) highlighted the duty of public companies to protect their shareholders and cure misconduct in an enforcement action concerning McDonald’s Corp. and its former CEO, Stephen J. Easterbrook. In a recent development, McDonald's, Easterbrook, and the SEC reached a deal by which Easterbrook agreed to a $400,000 fine and a five-year ban on serving as officer or director to Read More
The Adverse Consequences of Workplace Racism
Packaging Corporation of America Central Corrugated LLC (PCA) and Schwarz Partners LP, which owned a paper manufacturing plant in California, has agreed to pay $385,000 and implement corrective measures to remedy racial harassment in the plant. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed the lawsuit against the plant owners after two Black workers complained of racial harassment, including the Read More
Biden Administration Proposes to Reverse Trump-Era Medical Conscience Rule
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled “Safeguarding the Rights of Conscience as Protected by Federal Statutes” on December 29, 2022. The proposed rule would partially rescind a Trump-era OCR regulation, which never went into effect because three federal courts previously found the regulation unlawful. The 2019 Read More
No-Fault Points-Based Attendance Policy May Violate Employee ADA Rights
An Illinois federal district court has ruled that AutoZone may have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in establishing a no-fault points-based attendance policy, despite its exceptions for absences related to disability. More specifically, in denying most of the employer's summary judgment motion, the judge found that the AutoZone policy might have violated the employees' right to reasonable Read More
HHS Extends Deadline to Submit First RxDC Report
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) requires insurance companies and employer-based health plans to file periodic Prescription Drug Data Collection reports (RxDCs) with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS). The purpose of this data is to allow government agencies to analyze American medical spending. The first RxDC report, which is to contain 2020 and 2021 data, was originally due on Read More
HBL Adds Renowned Los Angeles ERISA Attorney to Of Counsel Ranks
ATLANTA, GA – Serving employers in thirty-nine states, boutique ERISA law firm Hall Benefits Law (HBL) welcomes Los Angeles-based attorney Alex M. Brucker to the Firm as Of Counsel. Brucker boasts almost fifty years as an employee benefits attorney, lecturer, and author, having begun his career in benefits law in 1974, the same year ERISA was enacted. He has been recognized seventeen consecutive years Read More
FL COBRA Notice Suit Against Wells Fargo Survives Motion to Dismiss
A Florida district court judge has denied Wells Fargo & Company’s motion to dismiss a proposed class action suit over deficient COBRA notices sent to thousands of health plan participants. The case is Blessinger et al. v. Wells Fargo & Company, case number 8:22-cv-01029, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Three former Wells Fargo employees sued the company in May 2022 under the Read More
