John Houston Pope, a Member of the Firm in the Labor and Employment and Litigation practices in the New York office, was quoted in an article in EmploymentLaw360 on the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in MetLife v. Glenn.
In the case, the Court ruled that an employer or insurance company that both determines eligibility and pays benefits under employee plans has a conflict of interest which a court may consider in determining whether benefits were improperly denied.
The article, titled, "High Court Affirms 6th Circ. In MetLife ERISA Suit," quoted Pope, who said the decision may encourage employers to move administrative duties for benefit plans to third parties to remove any indication of conflicting interests. "The impact of this is that it is going to call on every party who's a payor under ERISA plans and also administrators to reevaluate how they organize claim administration, whether it is isolating the people who make the claims decision or outsourcing to third parties to provide the appearance of impartiality to the court," Pope said.
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