Groom principal Kara Petteway Wheatley was featured by Law 360 in the article, “MetLife’s 3rd Circ. Win Won’t Stop ERISA Health Fee Suits,” where she examined what could come down the line for excessive health fee litigation.
According to Law360, Wheatley said that “the Third Circuit decision [was] a ‘major victory for employers,’” and that she is “going to be watching how the suit affects other excessive health fee litigation, including in the cases against J&J and Wells Fargo.”
The platform reported that Wheatley said that “the Third Circuit has now joined the Ninth Circuit ‘in dismissing claims brought by participants alleging that they paid too much for their coverage’ on standing grounds. She refers to the Ninth Circuit’s March 2023 decision affirming dismissal of an ERISA class action from workers who alleged health benefits mismanagement in Rachael Winsor et al. v. Sequoia Benefits & Insurance et al.”
Law 360 further reported that Wheatley said that “the appellate court ‘left open a narrow possibility for plaintiffs to try to establish a financial injury, and only where the employer did not follow the plan’s terms, and where the plaintiff establishes a non-speculative injury that was actually caused by the employer’s conduct.’”
To read the article, click here.
