Search
The 2021 calendar year reports from HHS OCR describe OCR’s efforts that calendar year and are instructive tools for all parties who need to comply with HIPAA to understand macro-level trends. What You Need to Know: OCR continues to receive tens of thousands HIPAA complaints each year. “Large”...
Section 102(b)(7) of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware was amended to permit Delaware corporations to exculpate certain corporate officers from monetary liability for breaches of the fiduciary duty of care. Previously, similar protections were available only to directors. This...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to potential impacts of COVID-19, full and fair review of the claim file, an attempt to use an insurer’s internal policy against itself, and a “second bite at the apple” by amending a complaint for denial of benefits to include a claim for breach of...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to discovery in ERISA benefits cases, an appellate court strictly interpreting ERISA regulatory deadlines, a district court authorizing an ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claim based on alleged misrepresentations from an employer, another district court...
Final regulations published on September 30, 2022 (the “final Regulations”) by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) of the Department of Treasury under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) grant business owners a reprieve, but not a pardon, with respect to their looming beneficial...
This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions that illustrate the importance of the administrative record built by a claims administrator, and the impact that the depth and thoroughness of the record will have on litigation over claims decisions. Whether reviewing claims under the de novo...
October was National Cybersecurity Month. As part of its ongoing focus on HIPAA Security Rule awareness and compliance, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) within the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), published its HIPAA Security Rule Incident Procedures newsletter (the “Newsletter”)...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to augmentation of the administrative record following new rationales, attempted alternative ERISA causes of action, untimely ERISA claims, plans governed by ERISA even in the absence of a written plan document, and the limited weight given to residual...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to the interpretation of time periods for claims under life insurance and disability plans, a situation where three separate administrators handled a disability benefits claim (but came to different decisions), the Eleventh Circuit’s parsing of...
The close of California’s legislative session on August 31 without amending the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) means that CCPA will soon apply to personal information that many businesses process concerning their employees, contractors, and applicants. CCPA had been amended in November of...
A spate of lawsuits across the country has targeted companies that use website tracking and analytics tools, claiming they are violating prohibitions against illegal wiretaps. In a recent precedential decision, the Third Circuit weighed in on this issue, suggesting that companies can indeed be...
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to interpretation of ambiguous policy terms, evaluation of claimant’s expert witness, inclusion of law firms as appropriate parties from whom plan administrators may seek equitable relief, transfer of cases from the claimant’s choice of venue, and...
The California Attorney General began exercising enforcement authority under the CCPA on January 1, 2020. Among the CCPA’s enumerated rights for consumers, the cornerstone of the CCPA, is the right to opt out of the collection of personal information. In Sephora’s case, the Attorney General...