A Virginia federal district court recently denied the employer’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought by wellness program participants over tobacco surcharges. The case is Bokma v. Performance Food Grp., Inc., 2025 WL 1452042 (E.D. Va. 2025). The Court referenced an April 2025 ruling in another federal district court (Mehlberg v. Compass Grp. USA, Inc., 2025 WL 1260700 (W.D. Mo. 2025)), in which that Read More

Amidst legal challenges, the current Trump administration indicated in a court filing that it will not enforce the mental health parity rule while it considers whether to rescind it. The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury also issued a joint statement announcing that they would not pursue enforcement action concerning the rule for at least 18 months following a final decision in the Read More

After six years of litigation, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit has dismissed a 401(k) lawsuit filed by Intel employees against the company. The employees alleged that including private equity funds and hedge funds as investment options in its two defined contribution plans was a breach of fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  The decision underscores that ERISA does Read More

Employees have now filed two separate 401(k) lawsuits against UnitedHealth Group (UHG), claiming that the company misused forfeited 401(k) funds from employees to reduce employer contributions into the plan. First, employees sued UHG in Kotalik et al. v. UnitedHealth Group Inc. et al., reportedly alleging that the company used the forfeited funds to pay employer contributions rather than defray administrative Read More

Various courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have decided cases involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) so far this year. These decisions include the Supreme Court’s unanimous resurrection of an alleged retirement fund mismanagement case against Cornell University and the revival of a yacht company’s claim against its health benefits administrators for excessive fees by the Sixth Circuit. Read More

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01. This release rescinds the DOL’s 2022 compliance assistance release concerning investments in cryptocurrency by 401(k) plan fiduciaries.  In its 2022 release, the DOL outlined its concerns about the prudence of 401(k) plan fiduciaries making cryptocurrency investments available to plan participants. The release cited Read More

Ritchie Trucking Service Inc. has reached a $1.9 million settlement in a class action suit with participants in its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Plan participants had filed suit against Ritchie in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California after a 2018 transaction transferred company ownership to the ESOP. The plaintiffs claimed that the transaction overvalued company stock, thus causing Read More

The Trump administration’s U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Treasury, and Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it would no longer enforce regulations requiring employer health plans to analyze and compare behavioral healthcare with physical healthcare coverage. Along with a lack of enforcement, the agencies intend to review their enforcement processes more broadly. The announcement delays a Read More

The Capital Group Companies Inc. is arguing for enforcement of an arbitration provision in its 401(k) plan on appeal before the U.S. Circuit Court for the Ninth Circuit. The company claims that the lower court erred in refusing to enforce the arbitration provision. The case is Pover v. The Capital Group Cos. Inc. et al., Case Number 24-5298, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On appeal, Capital Group is Read More

Prudential Insurance Co. of America recently filed an appellate brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, arguing that the lower federal district court correctly granted summary judgment in a class action lawsuit. Plaintiff workers have appealed the court’s decision, alleging that Prudential violated its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by making imprudent Read More