Second Circuit Extends Reach Of Benefits Insurance

The case turned on whether a claim made under ERISA, by a woman who alleged retaliation that included termination of certain benefits, was covered by a an EBL (employee benefits liability) endorsement on a general liability policy. In what K&L Gates attorney James E. Scheuermann says was a “well reasoned decision,” the court said it did. Scheuermann sees a potentially significant precedent here: There is a good chance that litigation related to the Affordable Care Act will be the next “soup du jour” for the class-action plaintiffs’ bar, he says, and the question of EBL coverage could be front and center.