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About this Blog
Welcome to the Snell & Wilmer Benefits Blog. We will be posting about current employee benefits and executive compensation topics and issues. We invite you to contact the authors with your thoughts or questions.Blog Contributors
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More is Not Always Better: Supreme Court Reexamines Fiduciary Duty of Prudence
In what may be one of the shortest decisions this term, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous six-page opinion on January 24, 2022 in Hughes v. Northwestern University. Vacating the Seventh Circuit’s decision, the Court further defined an ERISA … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits
| Tagged duty, ERISA, fiduciary, fiduciary duty, hughes, northwestern, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
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U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Standing Question on ERISA Pension Lawsuits
The U.S. Supreme Court is mulling over whether retirement plan participants must demonstrate individual or imminent risk of financial loss before seeking a breach of fiduciary duty action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). On January … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged diversify, fiduciary duty, overfunding, pension plan, standing, Supreme Court, thole, us bank
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What is the Fate of ACA? No Answers Yet from the Fifth Circuit.
Background As noted in our previous December 2018 blog post, “Texas Judge Declares the Affordable Care Act Unconstitutional – What’s Next?,” and our October 2019 newsletter, “2019 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List (Part 1) Health & Welfare,” … Continue reading
Posted in Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, DOJ, individual mandate, reform, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
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The Ninth Circuit Reverses Itself and Enforces ERISA Mandatory Arbitration Clause
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit recently decided that Charles Schwab Corp. can require a proposed class action to arbitrate its claim that Schwab breached its fiduciary duties by including Schwab-affiliated investment funds in the Plan, despite the funds’ … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged arbitration, ERISA, Supreme Court
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A Wellness Win for Employers, But Will it Last?
As explained in our April 21, 2015 and May 9, 2015 blog posts, wellness programs that are part of a group health plan are subject to the HIPAA nondiscrimination rules, and other state and federal laws including, but not limited … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged ADA, ADA safe harbor, CBA, disability, EEOC, flambeau, Seventh Circuit, SPD, Supreme Court, wellness, wellness program
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Obergefell v. Hodges – Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal in All 50 States
In 2013, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Windsor, struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) which defined marriage, for Federal purposes, as between one man and one woman. The Windsor ruling resulted in numerous … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged DOMA, domestic partner benefits, obergefell v. hodges, same-sex marriage, Supreme Court, United States v. Windsor
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King v. Burwell – Supreme Court Confirms Tax Subsidies are Available in All States
In an earlier blog post this year, I discussed the King v. Burwell case and the possible ramifications if the United States Supreme Court did not uphold the Internal Revenue Service position that residents in states with either a state … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ACA, Affordable Care Act, federal health care exchange, health care reform, king v. burwell, state health care exchange, Supreme Court, tax subsidy
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Supreme Court Confirms that Plan Fiduciaries have a “Continuing Duty of Some Kind” to Monitor Investments
In Tibble v. Edison International, Justice Breyer held, for a unanimous Supreme Court, that “a fiduciary normally has a continuing duty of some kind to monitor investments and remove imprudent ones.” In so ruling, the Court reversed a decision from … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged 401(k) plan, duty to monitor, fiduciary duty, plan investments, Supreme Court, Tibble v. Edison International
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Supreme Court Decision Changes Standards for Employer Stock in Retirement Plans
The Supreme Court recently decided a case that eliminates the “presumption of prudence” for plan fiduciaries relating to their investment in employer stock in retirement plans. In Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, the Supreme Court determined that fiduciaries of an … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Qualified Retirement Plans
| Tagged Dudenhoeffer, employee stock ownership plan, employer stock, ESOP, fiduciary duty, presumption of prudence, Supreme Court
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Employers May Be Able to Exempt Severance Payments from FICA Tax under Quality Stores
The Supreme Court recently ruled in U.S. v. Quality Stores that severance paid to employees is considered wages for FICA purposes. Before the Court’s decision, there was little doubt that employer-provided severance was wages for income tax purposes, but lower … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits
| Tagged FICA, severance, SUB payments, Supreme Court, U.S. v. Quality Stores
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