{"id":33,"date":"2015-01-31T01:22:46","date_gmt":"2015-01-31T01:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/?p=33"},"modified":"2016-03-01T13:22:09","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T21:22:09","slug":"a-touch-of-grey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/31\/a-touch-of-grey\/","title":{"rendered":"A Touch of Grey—ERISA Remains a Complex and Evolving Statute After 40 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joseph A. Garofolo<\/a><\/p>\n

To celebrate ERISA\u2019s 40th anniversary and for EES\u2019s inaugural blog, here are 10 observations relating to the landmark statute:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 ERISA was signed into law by President Gerald Ford on September 2, 1974, but most of its provisions took effect on January 1, 1975.\u00a0 After coming out of conference committee, the House of Representatives passed ERISA by a vote of 407-2 on August 20, 1974.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 As originally enacted, ERISA \u00a7 502 set forth six civil statutory causes of action.\u00a0 See<\/em> ERISA \u00a7\u00a7 502(a)(1)-(6).\u00a0 As amended, ERISA currently provides for ten civil statutory causes of action.\u00a0 See<\/em> ERISA \u00a7\u00a7 502(a)(1)-(10).<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 The Secretary of Labor has been a party to a number of seminal cases that contributed to the development of ERISA jurisprudence.\u00a0 See, e.g.<\/em>, Cutaiar v. Marshall<\/em>, 590 F.2d 523 (3d Cir. 1979); Donovan v. Bierwirth<\/em>, 680 F.2d 263 (2d Cir. 1982); Donovan v. Mazzola<\/em>, 716 F.2d 1226 (9th Cir. 1983); Donovan v. Cunningham<\/em>, 716 F.2d 1455 (5th Cir. 1983).<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 The Fifth Circuit has recognized that \u201ca pure heart and empty head\u201d are not enough to satisfy ERISA\u2019s fiduciary duties.\u00a0 Donovan v. Cunningham<\/em>, 716 F.2d 1455, 1467 (5th Cir. 1983).<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 According to the Fifth Circuit, ERISA\u2019s prudence standard does not require a fiduciary to conduct himself or herself as a prudent expert: \u201cSome commentators have suggested that the reference in Section 404 to a prudent man \u2018familiar with such matters\u2019 creates a \u2018prudent expert\u2019 standard under ERISA. . . . However, a review of the relevant history of Section 404 does not support this view; rather, it confirms that the emphasis of Section 404 is on flexibility.\u201d\u00a0 Donovan v. Cunningham<\/em>, 715 F.2d 1455, 1467 n.26 (5th Cir. 1983) (citations omitted).<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 In Donovan v. Bierwirth<\/em>, the Second Circuit explained that a fiduciary\u2019s decisions \u201cmust be made with an eye single to the interests of participants and beneficiaries.\u201d\u00a0 680 F.2d 263, 271 (2d Cir. 1982) (citations omitted).<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 The Ninth Circuit has observed that ERISA\u2019s prudence standard is derived from the common law of trusts, but that it must be interpreted \u201cbearing in mind the special nature and purpose of employee benefit plans.\u201d\u00a0 Donovan v. Mazzola<\/em>, 716 F.2d 1226, 1231 (9th Cir. 1983).<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 The Supreme Court has described ERISA\u2019s preemption clause as \u201cconspicuous for its breadth,\u201d\u00a0 FMC Corp. v. Holliday<\/em>, 498 U.S. 52, 58 (1990), and the Ninth Circuit has noted that \u201cERISA contains one of the broadest preemption clauses ever enacted by Congress.\u201d\u00a0 PM Group Life Ins. v. W. Growers Assur. Trust,<\/em> 953 F.2d 543, 545 (9th Cir. 1992).<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Health and welfare plans covered by ERISA are not exempt from its fiduciary duty provisions.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 Since ERISA was enacted, there have been 14 Secretaries of Labor (not including Acting Secretaries): Peter J. Brennan (1973-1975\/Nixon); John T. Dunlop (1975-76\/Ford); W.J. Usery, Jr. (1976-77\/Ford); Ray Marshall (1977-81\/Carter); Raymond J. Donovan (1981-85\/Reagan); William E. Brock (1985-87\/Reagan); Ann Dore McLaughlin (1987-89\/Reagan); Elizabeth Hanford Dole (1989-90\/Bush); Lynn Morley Martin (1991-93\/Bush); Robert B. Reich (1993-97\/Clinton); Alexis M. Herman (1997-01\/Clinton); Elaine L. Chao (2001-09\/Bush); Hilda L. Solis (2009-13\/Obama); and Thomas Perez (2013-present\/Obama).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joseph A. Garofolo To celebrate ERISA\u2019s 40th anniversary and for EES\u2019s inaugural blog, here are 10 observations relating to the landmark statute: 1.\u00a0 ERISA was signed into law by President Gerald Ford on September 2, 1974, but most of its provisions took effect on January 1, 1975.\u00a0 After coming out of conference committee, the … <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,17,13,16,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-jgarofolo","4":"post-33","6":"format-standard","7":"category-401k-plans","8":"category-disability-plans","9":"category-fiduciary-duties","10":"category-health-plans","11":"category-history-of-erisa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234,"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erisa-experts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}