Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Litigation

Experience

Recent representations include:

• United Behavioral Health (UBH): Achieved two unanimous victories in the Ninth Circuit for United Behavioral Health, a division of UnitedHealth, after being retained to reverse years of adverse rulings in a case the plaintiffs’ bar hailed as “easily the most important health insurance decision of the last 25 years.” Our team successfully decertified a 67,000-member class, dismantled the court’s principal liability finding, and curtailed the use of “reprocessing” as a remedy in ERISA class actions—reshaping the litigation landscape for health benefits claims.
• University of Southern California: Represented defendants in an “excessive fee” class action claiming that USC did not adequately monitor recordkeeping fees and investment options for its plans. We secured dismissal of all named defendants, and successfully struck two of plaintiffs’ experts, thereby reducing damages exposure by over 86%. Negotiated a favorable class settlement for USC on the eve of trial.
• The ERISA Industry Committee, American Benefits Council, and California Association of Health Plans: Submitted an amicus brief that helped shape key Ninth Circuit precedent regarding preemption under Section 514 of ERISA. The Ninth Circuit adopted in full Gibson Dunn’s unique arguments, resulting in a significant victory that lays important groundwork for preemption of state-law claims brought by healthcare providers against health plans.
• Ford Motor Company: Defended Ford Motor Company in putative class action alleging that, in calculating retiree’s total pension benefits, defendants improperly failed to credit employees for service during portions of the time he was on workers’ compensation-related leaves of absence. Successfully negotiated a dismissal before class certification briefing.
• Fidelity: Secured a significant victory on behalf of Fidelity Workplace Services, LLC, convincing plaintiff’s counsel to voluntarily dismiss a breach of fiduciary duty claim against Fidelity in a case that was covered by the mainstream press and named by Law360 as one of five “ERISA cases to watch” in the second half of 2023.
• PwC: Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) in a high-stakes ERISA class action brought in the Southern District of New York in which plaintiffs sought to compel payment of “whipsaw claims” exceeding $1 billion. The case settled while pre-trial motions were pending before the district court.
• Kimberly-Clark: Defended Kimberly-Clark in a putative representative ERISA action alleging breaches of fiduciary duties by plan fiduciaries for permitting unreasonable recordkeeping fees and by offering managed account services to plan participants. Kimberly-Clark achieved a favorable settlement before class certification and summary judgment.
• Aetna: Represented Aetna in a trio of class actions, filed in the same court over the course of several years, challenging various behavioral health coverage practices by a managed care company under ERISA and mental health parity laws. Gibson Dunn won all of the cases, obtaining dismissal of two and denial of class certification in the third.
• Tenet Healthcare: Representing Tenet Healthcare subsidiary United Surgical Partners International, Inc. (USPI) in its defense of a putative class action alleging that retirement plan participants were subjected to “excessive fees” in the administration of their plan benefits in violation of the fiduciary standards set by ERISA. Secured dismissal with prejudice of all claims, and negotiated a favorable class settlement on remand.