Employee Benefits Law Blog

Long Term Disability Plan's Recovery of Overpayment May Be Barred by CIGNA's Unclean Hands

Thursday, May 10, 2012 by Christopher A. Wieber

An Oregon federal district court recently held that the alleged bad faith of Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA), a CIGNA subsidiary, may preclude the insurance carrier from recovering a purported overpayment of long term disability benefits. In an ironic twist, the court’s holding, Ayers v. LINA, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55814 (D. Ore. April 19, 2012), relied on an equitable legal principle – the “doctrine of unclean hands”... Read More

Posted at 19:59 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

Plan Amendment Taking Away Right to Receive Annuity While Working Was Not a Cutback

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by Michael Bartolic

Employees and executives in Chicago frequently want to know what benefits their employer-sponsored pension
or retirement plan has to provide. Generally, both ERISA and the
Internal Revenue Code require qualified plans provide a minimum level of
participation, vesting, accrual of benefits, non-discrimination, and
responsibilities on plan fiduciaries. But ERISA and the Code also
provide... Read More

Posted at 17:41 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

CUNA's Elimination of Accrued Account Balance for Post-Retirement Health Care Upheld by Seventh Circuit

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by Michael Bartolic

Employees and Executives in Chicago that participate in an ERISA employee benefit plan
often wonder whether once an employer gives a benefit, the employer can
later take it away. Recently, CUNA Mutual did just that, and in an
opinion with which this author disagrees (in both result and reasoning),
the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled 2-1 that CUNA's
action was not improper.... Read More

Posted at 17:38 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

From Which Date You Measure an ERISA Statute of Limitation

Friday, June 24, 2011 by Michael Bartolic

Executives, professionals and other employees in Chicago frequently
call my office to ask what the statute of limitations is in an ERISA case
(i.e., the measure of how long the potential claimant has to file a
lawsuit under ERISA). Depending on the type of case, employees can end
up more confused after asking that question than before. One recent
case discussed when a claim accrues... Read More

Posted at 13:15 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

Don't Forget to Update Your Beneficiary Designations on Employer Sponsored Retirement or Life Insurance Plans

Monday, June 13, 2011 by Michael Bartolic

Executives and employees participating in employee benefit plans in
Chicago received a reminder this week about why it is important to keep
track of your benefit plans' beneficiary designations, and update those
designations when appropriate. Many people may think they can enter
into binding agreements with others, such as family members or former
spouses, about entitlement to or waiver of benefits under an employee
benefit plan, like a pension or Read More

Posted at 12:46 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

Q: If I am fired from my job am I automatically disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation?

Sunday, January 16, 2011 by Randy Enochs

Short overview of qualifications for unemployment benefits in Wisconsin if an employee is fired.... Read More

Posted at 12:17 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

Doctor's ERISA Long Term Disability Claim Denied: Despite Vision Loss Preventing Surgical Care, Doctor Could Have Replaced Lost Income by Relocating His Medical Practice to a Different City

Wednesday, December 8, 2010 by Christopher A. Wieber

A recent ERISA long term disability insurance case from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Leipzig v. Principal Life Ins. Co. (5th Cir., Nov. 29, 2010), underscores the profound impact a plan’s definitional provisions can have on the outcome of a claim – an outcome that may be completely at odds with the reasonable expectations of the average disability insurance plan participant. Read More

Posted at 20:34 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

Taxability of Unum Long Term Disability Claim Settlement

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 by Christopher A. Wieber

A recent ruling from the U.S. Tax Court, Gentile v. Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, T.C. Memo. 2010-254 (Nov. 18, 2010), available here, confirms that the settlement of a claim for disability benefits under an employer-sponsored ERISA long term disability plan, is taxable when the contributions for the plan were made by the employer.

The petitioner, Donna Gentile, was employed by the Orange... Read More

Posted at 12:01 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

Is it legal for my employer to require me to use PTO?

Monday, October 25, 2010 by Randy Enochs

I am a member of several websites where the lay and the like are able to submit various legal questions for members of the legal community to take a stab at (without creating a client-attorney relationship, of course). I often see the same question asked repeatedly from all areas of the country. One such question involves paid time off ("PTO") and whether or not employers can legally require employees to take time off and force them to use PTO... Read More

Posted at 22:37 PM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

9th Circuit Holds ERISA Spousal Protection Requirements Inapplicable to IRAs

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 by Keith Codron

According to a recent federal appeals court decision, a surviving spouse who was not named as a beneficiary of her deceased husband's IRA had no rights in or to that IRA, notwithstanding that the IRA was funded by an indirect rollover from an ERISA-qualified retirement plan providing for spousal protection, where the rollover from the qualified plan occurred prior to the spouse's marriage to decedent. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. v. Debickero (9th Cir. 2010), 593 F.3d... Read More

Posted at 09:39 AM | PERMALINK

Topic: Employee Benefits

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