Employment Law Information Network
All Things Labor and Employment Law
Posted: | Jackson Lewis Category: Benefits - 401(k)
Takeaway
The 2025 CAR does not alter ERISA’s substantive fiduciary standards and considerations but eases the DOL’s previously hostile enforcement stance toward cryptocurrency and similar digital assets in 401(k) plans, restoring a “neutral” DOL enforcement approach. 401(k) plan fiduciaries must still consider all relevant ERISA factors and apply the
Posted: | Jackson Lewis Category: Benefits - HIPAA
TakeawaysMultiple state laws are strengthening protections for health data, increasingly going beyond HIPAA, healthcare providers and health plans.Certain categories of health information, such as reproductive health, have greater privacy protections.Organizations cannot look solely to HIPAA when assessing privacy compliance.Related links
Posted: | Maynard Nexsen PC Category: Benefits - ACA
Last month, in Faulk Company, Inc. v. Xavier Becerra, et al. 4:24-CV-00609-P (April 10, 2025), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted an employer’s challenge to employer shared responsibility penalties assessed by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and ordered IRS to refund $205,621.71 that Faulk Company, Inc. (“Faulk”), the lone plaintiff in the case, paid in 2019 penalties. As part of the court’s order, it struck down the employer shared responsibility regulations at 45 C.F.R. § 155.310(i).
Posted: | Ogletree Deakins Category: Benefits - HIPAA
In the first five months of 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it had entered into ten Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) resolution agreements reflecting the settlement of alleged HIPAA violations stemming from data breaches reported to OCR.
Posted: | Jackson Lewis Category: Benefits - Multi-Employer Plans
Takeaway
The Third Circuit recently expanded the ability of multiemployer pension plans to collect withdrawal liability from affiliated employers, highlighting the need for employers to engage counsel with specialized expertise in this complex and dynamic area of law.
Related Links
The Full Article: Withdrawal Liability: Third Circuit
Posted: | Jones Walker Category: Benefits - General
Every day, employers face an evolving landscape of labor and employment legal challenges. Navigating these challenges requires thoughtful planning and skilled guidance in order to maintain an…
Posted: | Ogletree Deakins Category: Benefits - General
Federal regulators recently indicated they will not enforce parts of the final regulations issued in September 2024 under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and may soon propose new rules altogether.
Posted: | Jackson Lewis Category: Benefits - General
Takeaways Even though we have the promise of a non-enforcement policy applying to the 2025 and 2026 deadlines of at least some provisions of the 2024
Posted: | Ogletree Deakins Category: Benefits - ERISA
Two recent class action lawsuits charging a breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have increased the stakes and raised important considerations regarding a plan fiduciary’s duty of loyalty/prudence and engagement in prohibited transactions. This follows a string of cases over the years that have
Posted: | Maynard Nexsen PC Category: Benefits - ERISA
Under the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007 (April 17, 2025), plaintiffs asserting that ERISA plan administrators engaged in prohibited transactions under ERISA Section 406 are not required to plead the inapplicability of statutory exemptions in Section 408.
Posted: | Jackson Lewis Category: Benefits - ERISA
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, resolved a circuit split and established a plaintiff-friendly pleading standard for ERISA prohibited transaction claims in Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007.
Background
The plaintiffs in Cunningham accused Cornell’s retirement plans of engaging in prohibited transactions by paying
Posted: | Littler Category: Benefits - Multi-Employer Plans
Seventh Circuit Places Limits on Employers’ Withdrawal Liability from Certain Multiemployer Plans
On April 24, 2025, the Seventh Circuit upheld a Northern District of Illinois decision requiring a multiemployer pension plan to exclude the employers’ post-2014 rehabilitation plan contribution rate increases from the employers’ withdrawal liability calculation.
Withdrawal Liability and Funding
Posted: | Littler Category: Benefits - ERISA
The Supreme Court Relieves ERISA Plaintiffs of a Pleading Requirement: What’s Next for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries?
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that dealt a blow to benefit plan fiduciaries nationwide. The Court unanimously held in Cunningham v. Cornell University1 that a plaintiff asserting that
Posted: | Maynard Nexsen PC Category: Benefits - ERISA
Posted: | Maynard Nexsen PC Category: Benefits - ACA
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that all group health plans and insurance companies provide individuals a “summary of benefits and coverage” (SBC) that outlines the key features and coverage under the plan. This month’s Compliance Corner gives an overview of what the SBC is, why it matters, and how employers can ensure compliance with regulations.