ERISA class action litigation did not let up in 2025. Retirement plan fee litigation – which has dominated for several years – remained steady, with new, or in some cases refined, theories targeting 401(k) forfeitures and stable value fund performance. Additionally, this year saw a boom in litigation surrounding tobacco surcharges and continued litigation concerning
Supreme Court Clarifies ERISA Prohibited Transaction Pleading Standards
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, resolved a circuit split and established a plaintiff-friendly pleading standard for ERISA prohibited transaction claims in Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007.
Background
The plaintiffs in Cunningham accused Cornell’s retirement plans of engaging in prohibited transactions by paying excessive fees for recordkeeping
Second Circuit Weighs in Against ERISA Arbitration
Recently, the Second Circuit became the latest circuit refusing to enforce individual arbitration of an ERISA class action, joining the Third, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits. The Ninth Circuit, by contrast, has held that class action ERISA claims brought on behalf of plans are subject to individual arbitration, with relief limited to the individual plaintiff’s claims.
SCOTUS Declines Review of Fourth Circuit ERISA Surcharge Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to hear Rose v. PSA Airlines, Inc., Case No. 23-734, which raised the question of whether a remedy known as “surcharge” falls under ERISA’s equitable remedies provision. Surcharge, in simple terms, resembles monetary damages. Historically, courts used it to address losses resulting from a trustee’s breach of duty