Caroline E. Bressman represents the interests of employees, retirees, plan participants, and beneficiaries in ERISA class action lawsuits across the country.
Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, she was an associate at a highly regarded national plaintiffs’ law firm, where she represented clients in employee benefits/ERISA and employment law class actions.
In addition to managing a full docket, Caroline is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota Law School, where she teaches a Law in Practice course. She also speaks frequently on ERISA, wage theft and employment law topics in continuing legal education programs.
During law school, Caroline was a staff member (Vol. 101) and the Symposium Articles Editor (Vol. 102) for the Minnesota Law Review.
- American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section
- National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
- Minnesota Women Lawyers
- Adjunct Professor, University of Minnesota Law School (Spring 2023)
- Minnesota
- University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2018
- St. Olaf College, B.A., magna cum laude, 2015
Current Cases
AT&T Pension Benefit Plan Litigation
AT&T Pension Benefit Plan Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein represents participants and beneficiaries in the AT&T Pension Benefit Plan who allege that AT&T failed comply with ERISA’s actuarial equivalence requirements when providing married participants joint and survivor annuities.
Envision Management Holding, Inc. ESOP Litigation
Envision Management Holding, Inc. ESOP Litigation (D. Col.): Cohen Milstein represents Envision Management Holding ESOP participants in a lawsuit in connection with the sale of Envision Management Holding, Inc. to the ESOP at an inflated price, which caused a multi-million-dollar loss to the ESOP.
GWA, LLC 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan Litigation
GWA, LLC 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan Litigation (D. Conn.): On July 24, 2023, Cohen Milstein filed Andrew-Berry, et al. v. Weiss, Case No. Case 3:23-cv-00978 in the United States District Court of the District of Connecticut. This putative ERISA class action has been filed against GWA LLC, a hedge fund manager, and George A. Weiss, on behalf of Plaintiffs, who are participants in the GWA, LLC 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan (the “Plan”), and who allege that GWA, LLC and George A. Weiss breached their fiduciary duties and misused employee retirement plan assets to further their own pecuniary interest, in violation of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
Intel Minimum Pension Plan Litigation
Berkeley v. Intel Corporation et al (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein represents a putative class of pension plan participants and beneficiaries, who allege that the Intel Minimum Pension Plan utilized outdated mortality tables to determine the value of joint and survivor annuities, resulting in married retirees receiving less than the actuarial equivalent of the benefit that ERISA protects.
Past Cases
Triad Manufacturing, Inc. ESOP Litigation
Triad Manufacturing, Inc. ESOP Litigation (N.D. Ill.): Cohen Milstein represented participants and beneficiaries in the Triad Manufacturing ESOP who alleged that the ESOP's trustees breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the sale of Triad Manufacturing to the ESOP. In September 2021, the Seventh Circuit, in a precedent-setting decision, cited an exception to the Federal Arbitration Act that permits a court to overrule an arbitration agreement if it blocks a party from being able to bring claims under federal law. On August 23, 2023, the court granted final approval of a $14.8 million settlement and granted class certification.
World Travel ESOP Litigation
World Travel ESOP Litigation (E.D. Pa.): Cohen Milstein represents a putative class of employee stock option plan (ESOP) participants and beneficiaries who allege that the founders of World Travel and the ESOP trustees created the ESOP and then sold 100% of the employees World Travel stock to the ESOP at an above-market price, saddling it with over $200 million in debt.
Minnesota Super Lawyers Rising Star (2023)
February 26, 2024
New York Life To Pay $19M To Settle Retirement Plan Suit
Current and former New York Life Insurance workers asked a federal court Monday to approve a $19 million deal in a proposed class action alleging the insurance giant unlawfully kept underperforming proprietary investment options in two employee retirement plans. Plan participants leading the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit said in a motion for preliminary […]
In the News | Law360
August 4, 2023
No Pause in ERISA Class Suit for Supreme Court Appeal – Law360
A proposed class action alleging a radiology company and its founders overcharged an employee stock ownership plan can move forward, a Colorado federal judge has ruled, saying the defendants aren’t entitled to a stay while they appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over an order that found federal benefits law trumped the company’s arbitration agreement. […]
In the News
June 27, 2023
New York Life Workers Seek Class Nod In 401(k) Suit
A group of current and former New York Life Insurance Co. workers asked for class status in their New York federal court lawsuit alleging the insurance giant retained underperforming proprietary investment funds in two retirement plans, arguing that their claims can be litigated in one fell swoop. The employees said Monday that their Employee Retirement […]
In the News | Law360
June 14, 2023
5 Important Benefits Rulings From The 1st Half Of 2023
Here are five rulings from the first six months of 2023 that benefits lawyers should have on their radar. . . . ESOP Managers Lose 10th Circ. Arbitration Bid The Tenth Circuit issued a published opinion Feb. 9 rejecting a radiology company’s bid to compel individual arbitration of an ERISA class action from workers who […]
In the News | Law360
April 24, 2023
Manufacturing Co. Agrees To $14.8M Deal in ESOP Suit
Retail display maker Triad Manufacturing and employee stock ownership plan trustee GreatBanc agreed to a $14.8 million deal to end a lawsuit from workers claiming they were overcharged for Triad stock, teeing up an end to a court battle that the Seventh Circuit refused to kick to arbitration. Proposed class representatives James Smith and Jerry […]
In the News | Law360