ERISA Does Not Preempt Certain State-Law Claims Against "Dual-Hat" Officers and Directors, Appellate Court Rules
Attorneys Todd Wozniak, Lindsey Camp, Chelsea McCarthy, Renee Lewis and Darcie Thompson co-authored an article published in Employee Benefit Plan Review analyzing a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decision affirming that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) did not preempt the state-law corporate liability claims against officers and directors who also served as ERISA fiduciaries. The ruling concluded that ERISA contemplates parallel state-law corporate liability against directors and officers who serve dual roles as both corporate and ERISA fiduciaries. The court also found that ERISA did preempt the state-law claims against the employee benefit plan trustee and its financial advisor because those claims would interfere with ERISA's remedial scheme.