ERISA & Employee Benefits LAWYERS
Relentless advocates protecting
retirement savings.
Hardworking people should enjoy the full fruits of their retirement benefits. When corporate mismanagement interferes, we step in.
Overview
Our nationally acclaimed attorneys represent the interests of employees, retirees, and plan participants or beneficiaries in their pursuit of economic justice. Through often cutting-edge class actions, we address the mismanagement of employee retirement benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), including:
- 401(k) plans, retirement savings plans that allows employees to contribute a portion of their wages to an individual account
- Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), retirement plans that allows employees to own part or all of a company
- Traditional pension plans
We also address mismanagement issues of other types of health and employee benefit plans.
Our nationally recognized team of ERISA attorneys has led some of the most significant ERISA-related litigation in recent U.S. history, including cases that have been appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Precedent-setting decisions include:
- Defeating Motion to Compel Arbitration: Enforceability of arbitration clauses is a crucial issue for workers, which can entirely shift the dynamics of a case and their pursuit of economic justice. We have achieved precedent-setting decisions before the Third, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits – all addressing lower court rulings denying Defendants’ motions to compel arbitration under ERISA. 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.
- In re Beacon Association Litigation: Acted as ERISA Counsel for a certified class which settled their claims for $219 million, representing 70% of the Class members’ out-of-pocket losses. The judge praised the settlement, describing the outcome as “extraordinary” and the praising the “hard work” done by plaintiffs’ counsel, including Cohen Milstein.
We also have the unique capability to represent employees who purchased overvalued employer stock through employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plans, given our extensive experience with securities fraud and investor protection litigation. While employees may pursue claims under securities fraud laws, ERISA provides additional rights and remedies to recover losses in 401(k) retirement plans.
Leveraging the experience of our colleagues in the Securities Litigation and Investor Protection practice, we also represent employees who purchased overvalued employer stock through employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plans. In these cases, we represent employees alleging breach of fiduciary duties to hold employers and plan fiduciaries accountable for misrepresentations which artificially inflated the value of the employer stock purchased through their 401(k) plans. While these employees may also have claims under the securities laws, ERISA provides employees with significant additional rights and remedies to recover losses in employer stock lost through a 401(k) retirement plan.
Current Cases
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
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.