ERISA & Employee Benefits

Relentless legal advocates protecting retirement savings.

Hardworking people should enjoy the full fruits of their retirement benefits. When corporate mismanagement interferes, our attorneys step in.

Our nationally acclaimed class action attorneys represent employees, retirees, plan participants and beneficiaries seeking to recover losses due to plan mismanagement. Our team spearheads cutting-edge litigation brought under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Employees work hard for their benefits, so we work hard to protect their retirement savings and health benefits. 

Litigating ERISA cases requires the ability to navigate the intricate federal laws and regulations governing employee benefit plans. Our team is experienced in tackling these complexities, whether it’s addressing mismanagement of plan assets, breaches of fiduciary duties, excessive fees, or disputes over plan provisions.

Plans Covered by ERISA 

Federal law requires that retirement plans and health plans be managed in the best interest of the employees and retirees who participate in these plans. Through cutting-edge class actions, we address the mismanagement of retirement plans and health plans governed by ERISA, including: 

  • ESOPs: Short for Employee Stock Ownership Plans, ESOPs are a type of retirement plan that gives employees ownership in the company for which they work. Instead of saving money in a 401(k), workers in an ESOP own shares of the company that employs them. In theory, ESOPs are meant to give workers a real stake in their company’s success. But they only work if the shares are bought and valued fairly. If not, employees can end up with far less than they deserve for their years of hard work. 
  • 401(k) plans : These retirement plans, offered by many employers, allow employees to put aside part of their paycheck—before taxes are taken out—into an investment account to save for retirement. A 401(k) is one of the most common way Americans save for retirement—and unlike an ESOP, you don’t need to own company stock. You choose how your money is invested, and it stays with you, even if you change jobs. But when 401(k) plans contain underperforming funds or expensive fees, employees’ retirement savings suffer.  
  • Pension benefit plans: Traditional pension benefit plans, also known as “defined benefit plans,” typically provide a specific monthly pension payment for life, or a single “lump-sum” payment of all benefits at once, after retirement. Sometimes these benefits can be unlawfully forfeited or reduced.  
  • Health plans: Plans that provide health insurance and prescription drug benefits are also protected by ERISA. These plans can be mismanaged or saddled with excessive fees, driving up healthcare costs.   

Federal law sets standards for plans to safeguard the interests of participants and their beneficiaries. ERISA class actions allow individuals to join together to assert their right to a secure retirement.

Our ERISA Litigation Record 

Our employee benefits lawyers have led some of the most significant ERISA-related litigation in recent times, including Supreme Court cases. Precedent-setting decisions include: 

  • Beacon Madoff ERISA Litigation: We acted as ERISA counsel for a certified class which settled its claims for $219 million. This sum amounted to 70 percent of the class members’ out-of-pocket losses. The judge praised the settlement, describing the outcome as “extraordinary” and lauding the “hard work” done by plaintiffs’ counsel, including Cohen Milstein. 
  • Becker v. Wells Fargo & Co.: We represented Wells Fargo employees in this class action lawsuit alleging that Wells Fargo improperly filled its 401(k) plan with affiliated funds. Our employee benefits attorneys secured a $32.5 million settlement for the class in one of the largest ever ERISA settlements involving the inclusion of affiliated funds in a 401(k) plan.  
  • Protecting the Right to Sue in Court: Plan administrators sometimes try to avoid accountability by putting arbitration clauses in retirement plans or employment agreements. These clauses can hinder the pursuit of justice by purporting to prevent workers from suing on behalf of their plan in court or representing other people in the plan. We have achieved precedent-setting decisions before the Third, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits rejecting Defendants’ attempts to force ERISA class actions into individual arbitration. On October 10, 2023, the United States Supreme Court declined to review our 10th Circuit win in Harrison v. Envision Management Holding, Inc. Boards of Directors, et al. (D. Col.). In addition to these three appellate victories, to date, Cohen Milstein has won decisions striking down arbitration and class waivers in five district courts. 

Litigating ERISA cases requires a thorough understanding of complex legal issues and the ability to navigate the intricate federal laws and regulations governing employee benefit plans. These cases often requiring comprehensive investigations and strategic legal planning concerning how large corporations and fiduciaries are managing retirement or savings plans. Our team is experienced in tackling these complexities, whether it’s addressing mismanagement of plan assets, breaches of fiduciary duties, excessive fees, or disputes over plan provisions. We also have the experience and ability to represent employees who have purchased overvalued stock in ESOPs and 401(k) retirement plans, thanks to our work in the areas of securities fraud and investor litigation.  

We provide expert guidance and advocacy to our clients at every step of the litigation to ensure their rights are defended throughout the process. By combining legal expertise with a commitment to justice, we ensure our clients have the best chance of recovering their losses and securing their financial future. 

Current Cases

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JPMorgan Chase Prescription Drug Litigation

Stern v. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represents participants in the JPMorgan Chase Health Care Insurance Program for Active Employees and its component Medical Plan in a proposed class action. Plaintiffs allege that JPMorgan systematically mismanaged its prescription-drug benefits program by agreeing to pay its pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, grossly inflated prescription drug prices, costing the health plan and its participants millions of dollars through higher payments for prescription drugs, higher premiums, higher out-of-pocket costs, higher deductibles, higher coinsurance, higher copays, and suppressed wages.

BDO USA ESOP Litigation

Taylor v. BDO USA (D. Mass.): Cohen Milstein represents participants and beneficiaries of the BDO USA Employee Stock Ownership Plan in a putative ERISA class action. Plaintiff alleges that BDO USA’s board of directors ensured that control of BDO was kept in the hands of management rather than the ESOP, used inflated revenues to value BDO, and engaged in a self-dealing transaction involving the ESOP purchasing 42% of the company’s common stock for approximately $1,300,000,000 – a purchase price that exceeded fair market value.

Wells Fargo Health Plan Litigation

Navarro, et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co. (D. Minn.): Cohen Milstein is representing members of the Wells Fargo & Company Health Plan in a putative class action against Wells Fargo and senior executives for mismanaging Wells Fargo’s prescription-drug benefits program. Plaintiffs allege that such breaches of fiduciary duties and prohibited transactions have cost their ERISA plan and their employees millions of dollars in the form of higher payments for prescription drugs, higher premiums, higher out-of-pocket costs, and lower wages or limited wage growth.

Past Cases

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Bon Secours Church Plan Litigation

Hodges, et al. v. Bon Secours Health System, Inc., et al. (D. Md.): On December 21, 2017, the court issued an order and final judgment granting final approval of a $98.3 million settlement. Plaintiffs alleged that Bon Secours Health Plan improperly defined seven defined benefit pension plans as “Church Plans,” which are exempt from ERISA, and for breaching their fiduciary responsibilities in managing the plans under ERISA. Plaintiffs further alleged that application of the Church Plan exemption to the Bon Secours Plans violated the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. This settlement is unique not only for covering the total amount the plans that were underfunded but also for the fact that it was reached while three similar Church Plan/ERISA exemption cases, also led by Cohen Milstein, were consolidated before and ultimately granted review by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Providence Health Services Church Plan Litigation

Griffith v. Providence Health & Services, et al. (W.D. Wash.): Cohen Milstein represented more than 73,000 employees at Providence Health Services, who alleged that the non-profit healthcare conglomerate and its subsidiaries improperly claimed that the Providence Health & Services Cash Balance Retirement Plan qualified as a “Church Plan” under ERISA. Plaintiffs further claimed that if it was a “Church Plan,” then it did not comply with the many protections afforded to pension beneficiaries under ERISA. On March 21, 2017, the court granted final approval of a landmark $351 million settlement.

New York Life Insurance Company 401(k) Litigation

Krohnengold v. New York Life Insurance Company (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represented employees and agents of New York Life Insurance in this certified class action against New York Life for allegedly mismanaging its 401(k) and engaging in corporate self-dealing and the prohibited transfer of employees’ retirement assets. Plaintiffs claim that New York Life impermissibly invested participants investments into a Fixed Dollar Account by default and improperly favored and included its own in-house investment funds in its plans, thereby earning New York Life and its affiliates windfall profits. On July 18, 2024, the Court granted final approval of a $19 million settlement – approximately 25% of the alleged losses.