Class Action Update

Employers received a small ‘win’ this week from a district court in New Jersey. The class action initially reported on last spring alleged fiduciary breach by Johnson & Johnson in their capacity as health and welfare plan fiduciary. The court decided that the plaintiff did not establish standing (which is required under Article III of the Constitution). 

Employers may recall these are the same grounds a similar class action, Knudsen v MetLife, was dismissed upon in 2024.

Because this decision hinges on the plaintiff’s ‘standing’, the court did not actually reach the merits of the case at hand. This potentially leaves the door open for future litigation on these same fiduciary breach grounds, if the plaintiffs indeed suffer direct ‘injury’ as a result of their employer's management of the health plan. Employers should continue making all efforts to comply with ERISA’s high burden of fiduciary care in their operation of all employee benefits plans.

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