9th Circuit Split Decision on denial of Golden Gate Restaurant Association en banc Petition
Golden Gate Association involves a challenge on ERISA preemption grounds to a San Francisco law requiring all employers in the City to make mandatory contributions toward employee healthcare costs. The 9th Circuit reversed a District Court ruling that the law is preempted by ERISA. In denying Golden Gate's en banc rehearing petition eight Circuit Court Judges dissented from the court's decision not to rehear this matter en banc and issued a long opinion discussing why the majority is wrong. There's also a concurring opinion defending the majority's decision not to rehear the case. This decision creates a circuit split with the 4th Circuit's decision in Retail Industry Leaders v. Fielder case preemption issue holding that a Maryland state law imposing a similar employer mandate (albeit, only on employers of 10,000 or more employees in the state) was preempted by ERISA. Now that the Circuit Court denied rehearing, the matter is ripe for a petition for certiorari to the U.S Supreme Court.
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Sixth Circuit Upholds Michigan’s Discretionary Clause Ban
The Sixth Circuit held in American Council of Life Insurers, et. al v. Ross, Case No.08-1406 (March 18, 2009) that state insurance department prohibitions of discretionary clauses are not preempted by ERISA.
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Estate of Schwing - Third Circuit abandons "Sliding Scale"
Yesterday (4/14/09), the Third Circuit handed down the attached opinion concerning discretionary review post MetLife v. Glenn. As you will see, in Point II of the opinion, the Circuit Court states, "... we find that, in light of Glenn, our 'sliding scale' approach is no longer valid." The Third Circuit ruled that instead, courts reviewing administrators' decisions pursuant to ERISA 502(a)(1)(B) must "apply a deferential abuse of discretion standard of review across the board" and only consider conflict of interest as but one of several factors when deciding whether the administrator abused its discretion.
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Denmark v. Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston
In Denmark v. Liberty Life Assur. Co., the District Court in Massachusetts affirmed Liberty's denial of plaintiff's claim for long term disability benefits based on a fibromyalgia diagnosis. A divided panel of the First Circuit affirmed the District Court's opinion. See 481 F.3d 16 (1st Cir. 2007)(Denmark I). Plaintiff moved for rehearing and the Court held off on ruling on the petition pending the Supreme Court's decision in Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Glenn, 128 S. Ct. 2343 (2008). Following Glenn, the First Circuit panel took additional briefing and held a second oral argument.
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Krolnik v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., No. 08-2616, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 13916 (7th Cir. June 29, 2009)
Approximately two years after holding in Patton v, MFS/Sun Life Financial Distributors, Inc., 480 F.3d 478, 490 (7th Cir. 2007), that the admission of discovery outside of the administrative record in ERISA de novo cases is within the sound discretion of the court, guided by the need of the court for additional evidence to render an informed decision, the Seventh Circuit yesterday revisited the issue of the scope of discovery under de novo review in Krolnik v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., No. 08-2616, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 13916 (7th Cir. June 29, 2009).
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