Breach of Fiduciary Duty under ERISA: Making the Insurer or Plan Administrator Responsible for their actions towards a Plan’s Participants and Beneficiaries

In a previous blog, we addressed the doctrines of equitable estoppel and waiver when the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) governs their insurance or pension plan.  As we explained, both doctrines provide an insured with methods of forcing an...

Waiver and Estoppel in the Ninth Circuit Post Salyers v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co.

Waiver and equitable estoppel serve as some of the legal systems’ fundamental checks on the fairness of a party’s actions. Both doctrines serve to prevent an individuals and insurers from performing actions contradictory to what they have previously guaranteed or...

Multi-Million Dollar Disgorgement Award Struck Down in Rochow – But the Disgorgement Remedy May Still Be Alive

In December 2013, we published an article highlighting the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ bold decision to award the plaintiff disability benefits plus $2.8 million in disgorged earnings, as a potential “game-changer” in Employee Retirement Income Security Act of...

Ninth Circuit Expands the Availability of Equitable Remedies in ERISA Cases, Approving Surcharge as a Viable Remedy

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Russell, 473 U.S. 134 (1985), the courts have grappled with the issue of the extent to which equitable remedies are available under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). ...

Echague v. Met Life: Equitable Surcharge is an Available Remedy Against Unresponsive Plan Administrators Under ERISA

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) seeks to protect participants in employer-sponsored plans, but lack of adequate communication and transparency is an often an unfortunate byproduct of the insurance industry.  The California district court...

Rochow v. LINA: A Game-Changer in ERISA Disability Benefits Litigation

While this blog often discusses disability, life and health insurance/employee benefit decisions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA “), we rarely discuss federal circuit court of appeal decisions from outside the Ninth Circuit Court of...

Equitable Relief in the Ninth Circuit Just Got Better for Consumers

The Wednesday July 11, 2012 edition of the Los Angeles Daily Journal featured Robert McKennon’s and Scott Calvert’s article entitled: “Equitable Relief in the Ninth Circuit Just Got Better for Consumers.”  In it, Mr. McKennon and Mr. Calvert discuss two important...