Overview
ERISA: Department of Labor Investigations and Litigation focuses on the Department of Labor’s civil enforcement authority and litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The book has two primary functions: to serve as a reference guide to the Department’s regulations and informal guidance, and to be a resource for the Department’s views on ERISA fiduciary responsibilities as expressed in litigation by highlighting key cases.
The book examines cases brought by the Department directly as the plaintiff or amicus and on how its views have been received by the courts. Cases involving private litigants generally are not discussed but are briefly mentioned if they are particularly significant, such as Supreme Court decisions or key lower court opinions. The primary exception concerns the Department’s amicus curiae briefs, which are filed in private party litigation and touch on significant or novel issues before the Supreme Court and circuit courts across the country.
As much of the Department’s enforcement and litigation has focused on pension plans, so does this book, along with an overview of health plan investigations, enforcement, and litigation, including under ERISA Part 7 and the Affordable Care Act. There is also a short discussion of the Department’s criminal enforcement program, as well as a discussion of the impact of the fiduciary, or conflict of interest, rule on the financial services industry and related litigation.