A Publication from Epstein Becker Green
and The ERISA Industry Committee
The various participants in the economy and many other aspects of American society, including unfortunately employee benefits, have become the subject of seemingly endless litigation over the years. The courts are inundated with cases dealing with a variety of employee benefit related issues. In fact, a summary of current and recent benefit litigation could be encyclopedic. We, of course, will spare you such a broad summary.
- FEATURED ARTICLES -
DOMA Update
By: Paul Friedman and John Houston Pope
The last issue of the Litigation Update discussed the emerging body of cases holding Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") unconstitutional. Subsequently, the Supreme Court granted a petition to review a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, United States v. Windsor, 699 F.3d 169 (2d Cir. 2012), cert. granted, No. 12-307, to examine this issue. On the same day, the Court also granted review in Hollingsworth v. Perry, 671 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2012), cert. granted, No. 12-144, a decision that invalidated a California voter initiative (Proposition 8) that barred a right to marriage by same-sex couples that the state supreme court had previously recognized. . .
Obamacare: Round 2
By: Paul Friedman and John Houston Pope
The greatest drama in the Supreme Court's last term came from the legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 ("PPACA"), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, aka "Obamacare". The Court considered substantive challenges to the constitutionality of changes to Medicaid and to the so-called "individual mandate" to purchase health insurance, and a procedural challenge to the ability of certain plaintiffs to challenge the constitutionality of the Act. Three consolidated cases received two full days of oral argument before the Court last year. . .
Read the full Update here.
