Retirement Security Law Commons^™

Together We Can: Imagining The Future Of Employee Pensions, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

Reviewing Teresa Ghilarducci & Christian E. Weller, Eds. Employee Pensions: Policies, Problems & Possibilities (LERA 2007)

A little over thirty years ago Congress enacted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA),¹ a comprehensive reform of the existing system of pension regulation.² Solidly into its fourth decade, ERISA has been the object of much commentary as the various federal courts have struggled to infuse its complicated and sometimes imprecise pieces with coherent meaning. ³ Some have suggested that ERISA's primary goal of reducing the risk to employees of employer default has largely been achieved.⁴ Others believe that almost …

Pension And Employee Benefit Law—Employee Retirement Income Security Act—An Owner-Employee Can Qualify As A "Participant" In An Erisa Pension Plan Sponsored By His Corporation, As Long As The Plan Covers One Or More Non-Owner Employees. Yates V. Hendon, 541 U.S. 1 (2004), Quentin May

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Erisa Hokey-Pokey: You Put Your Top Hat In, You Put Your Top Hat Out, Sally Lerner Galati

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Limitations Of Retirement Plan Law, Peter M. Van Zante

ExpressO

It is widely believed that employers determine whether or not their employees receive retirement benefits and the type and amount of any benefits that are received. This belief is mistaken. While sponsorship of a retirement plan is a voluntary choice on the part of the sponsoring employer and the sponsoring employer directly controls the type of plan and the level of benefits provided, the employer's choices on these matters are controlled by its employees' preferences for different forms of compensation. An employer must spend the funds available for employee compensation so as to provide its employees with those forms of …

The Changing World Of Employee Benefits, Maria O'Brien Hylton

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The employee benefits picture, at least for many plan participants and some plan sponsors, is a scary and bleak one. The number of workers with pension coverage is declining, health insurance rates are rising much faster than the rate of inflation, and the number of uninsured continues to rise as well. The decline in union density, the recent boost given by the U.S. Supreme Court to Any Willing Provider ("AWP") laws, and the deluge of recent benefits-related scandals are also all part of this landscape. This Article examines each of these issues, with a focus on reforms that would increase …

Commentary: Is It Time To Take The Broom And Really Clean House? A New Paradigm For Employee Benefits, Mary Ellen Signorille

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recovering Retirement Security: An Analysis Of The Lockdown Claims Under Erisa, As Illustrated By The Enron Litigation, Margo Eberlein

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This Note discusses Enron's lockdown of its 401(k) plan, the effect this decision had on Enron employees' pension funds, and the legal implications of this decision under the current statutory framework, ERISA. It describes the lawsuit filed by Enron employees in an attempt to recover some of the lost funds, as well as the probability of success for that action specifically and similar actions under ERISA in the future.

Lessons From The French Funding Debate, Kathryn L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The French retirement system, like the American social security system, is facing long-term funding difficulties. As a result, the French are debating whether to expand the role of pre-funded retirement plans. The economic arguments presented in this debate are virtually identical to the economic arguments presented in the American debate on whether the American social security system should be partially privatized.

The French and American debates, however, diverge once history and ideology are considered. The French have a history of failed funded pensions in contrast to the United States where the failure of prominent underfunded pension led to the enactment …

Reply To Judge Easterbrook: The Unsupported Delegation Of Conflict Adjudication In Erisa Benefit Claims Under The Guise Of Judicial Deference, Donald T. Bogan

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pension Law: Cash Balance Pension Plans Are Not Inherently Age Discriminatory: Cooper V. Ibm Personal Pension Plan Defies A Strong History Of Support For The Cash Balance Design, Allison C. Mcgrath

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Plain Meaning Interpretation Of Erisa’S Preemption And Saving Clauses: In Support Of A State Law Preemption Of Section 1132(A) Of Erisa’S Civil Enforcement Provisions

San Diego Law Review

Most of that change has involved the direction in which the Court has taken its interpretation of the phrase “relate to” as contained in ERISA’s express preemption clause. Changing course after approximately twenty-five years of expansively interpreting the preemption clause, the Court has moved from a very broad interpretation of “relate to,” as announced in Pilot Life v. Dedeaux, to a more practical, case-by-case evaluation that principally asks whether a disputed state law interferes with ERISA’s purposes and objectives, as discussed in New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance Co1 If the state …

Pension Reform In The Aftermath Of Enron: Congress' Failure To Deliver The Promise Of Secure Retirement To 401 (K) Plan Participants, Janice Kay Lawrence

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Erisa Preemption: Whether State Common Law Doctrines Of Substantial Compliance Fall Under The Purview Of Erisa, Jennifer Howard

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Leverage, Linkage, And Leakage: Problems With The Private Pension System And How They Should Inform The Social Security Reform Debate, Norman P. Stein, Patricia E. Dilley

UF Law Faculty Publications

The argument for Social Security privatization is, at bottom, simple: we need more, and better, advance funding of the public retirement system. In particular, we need to commit a portion of FICA tax to privately managed investment accounts, which will purchase investment instruments that promise higher rates of return than the government debt instruments in which the Social Security surplus is currently invested. The privatization debate has centered on the extent to which Social Security faces an impending demographic crisis during the coming decades, whether privatization is fundamentally inconsistent with the idea of social insurance, whether privatization financial projections are …

Settlements And Waivers Affecting Pension Benefits Under Erisa, Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

Waivers affecting pension benefits may be entered into as part of a controversy (for example, a settlement agreement) or in isolation (for example, a disclaimer). Under current law, however, it is unclear how these waivers fit within the protections of ERISA, particularly the antialienation rule. Courts have generally honored settlement agreements so long as they are procedurally fair to participants. However, the antialienation rule looms in the background. The IRS and Treasury, in contrast, have focused on waivers outside the settlement context, prohibiting participants from making them but allowing beneficiaries to do so if the waiver satisfies gift-tax rules for …

Employer Sponsored Health Benefit Plans Under Erisa After Pegram V. Herdrich: The Fiduciary Duty Argument And Mixed Eligibility Versus Treatment Decisions, Jack E. Karns

Journal of Law and Health

Accordingly, this Article is a rebuttal to the Supreme Court's opinion in Pegram v. Herdrich on the strength of two primary arguments. First, the Seventh Circuit's rationale was on-point and extremely sound in concluding that HMOs do stand as trustees as envisioned by the ESBP and cannot offer kickback payments to physicians simply to increase shareholder wealth at the expense of patient health and welfare. This was a textbook example of breach of fiduciary duty given the medical trust relationship between physician and patient. Had the HMO offered a hedge fund option using securities from firms other than itself, there …

Hidden In Plain View: The Pension Shield Against Creditors, Patricia E. Dilley

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Hidden In Plain View: The Pension Shield Against Creditors, Patricia E. Dilley

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article examines the virtually unquestioned protection of retirement assets from creditors, in both state and federal law, with a view to determining whether tax qualification or even retirement itself is a sufficient rationale for preserving debtor assets in the face of creditors' claims, and if so, what the limits of such protection should be. The problems of current law stem in large part from the use of tax qualified status as a convenient shortcut for determining the appropriate bankruptcy treatment of retirement accounts. The result is a wide disparity in the treatment of debtors epitomized by the cases of …

Cobra Continuation Coverage And The Plain Reading Of The Statute: Geissal V. Moore Medical Corporation , Judith C. Brostron

Journal of Law and Health

This Paper will discuss the relevant statutes, case law and the Supreme Court's opinion in Geissal v. Moore Medical Corp. It concludes that the Supreme Court correctly reversed the Eighth Circuit's opinion in Geissal by applying the plain meaning of the statute and rejecting the "significant gap" theory. James Geissal was entitled to COBRA continuation coverage even though his wife had preexisting group health insurance coverage. The Fifth, Eleventh and Eigth Circuits' significant gap theory is not supported by the plain meaning of the statute or Congress' intent. The employee should have the choice to elect COBRA or decide whether …

Employee Benefits: Erisa Enhanced Benefit Claims And The Seventh Amendment: No Common Ground In The Tenth Circuit-- Adams V. Cyprus Amax Minerals Co., Amy Nixon

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Filling The Regulatory Void After Erisa: The Third Circuit's Employer First Rule In Coordination Of Benefits, Aileen A. Dowd

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Preemption Between The Poles: Erisa's Effect On State Common Law Actions Other Than Benefit Claims, Troy A. Price

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Erisa - Fischer V. Philadelphia Electric Co.: The Third Circuit Seriously Considers The Fiduciary Duty To Disclose Potential Changes To An Employee Benefit Plan Under Erisa, Mathew S. Rotenberg

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

A Framework For Analysis Of Erisa Preemption In Suits Against Health Plans And A Call For Reform, Susan O. Scheutzow

Journal of Law and Health

This article provides a framework for an analysis of ERISA preemption of suits against health plans. The types of decisions made by health plans will be categorized and ERISA preemption concepts applied to this categorization to determine the points in inequity between ERISA regulated health plans and non-ERISA regulated health plans. This article will then review the problems inherent in relying upon the malpractice area as the primary remedy for beneficiaries seeking care under ERISA regulated and non-ERISA regulated plans and identify a number of key points for reform.

Pensions And Passivity, Gregory S. Alexander

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses how modem fiduciary law has extended equity's tradition of constructing ownership as passive through the corporate pension system. It examines how the corporate pension system as a mode of owning pooled capital is a new stage of passive ownership. This stage creates a different aspect of the familiar problem of separating control from beneficial ownership. Berle and Means argued that the problem that the separation of control from ownership created was economic. The interests of managers and shareholders in the modern corporation diverge, and, they argued, this divergence diminishes the overall efficiency of the modern economy, dominated …

Erisa And The Bankruptcy Code: Stepping Into Quicksand Or Something Else, Post Mackey, Maria A. Di Pippo, Gerald P. Wolf

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Pension Game: Age- And Gender-Based Inequities In The Retirement System, Camilla E. Watson

Scholarly Works

This Article begins by stressing the importance of retirement benefits in general and employer-provided benefits in particular. It then addresses specific current issues of age and gender discrimination under both the private retirement and Social Security systems. Gender-based discrimination is emphasized because of the overlap between gender-based discrimination and age discrimination. Finally, this Article suggests specific reforms for a fairer and more adequate systems in the twenty-first century.

Multiple Legal Representation Of Erisa Plans And Employers Following Allegations Of Fraud And Malfeasance, Elwyn C. Lee

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Erisa Preemption Of Community Property Law—Francis V. United Technologies Corp., 458 F. Supp. 84 (N.D. Cal. 1978), Donald L. Shanks

Washington Law Review

The theory of modem domestic relations law—marriage as partnership—requires recognition of the non-employee spouse's ownership interest in the pension. This note challenges the Francis court's finding that recognition of the non-employee spouse's ownership interest was preempted by ERISA, concluding that Congress did not intend to bring about the regression in domestic relations law that Francis threatens.

Fiduciary Standards As Applied Under Erisa, Rosemary B. Orr

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) resulted in large changes in the laws of private pensions. However, with the use of exculpatory and indemnification provisions, ERISA has been limited in its ability to enhance the strength of fiduciary requirements for pension trustees. This comment examines the statutory language of ERISA and looks to understand judicial interpretation to look to the future of ERISA.