Compliance Stuff

When most people think about ERISA lawsuits, the usual suspects are plan sponsors. They’re the fiduciaries who pick the investments, hire the service providers, and have the crosshairs on their backs when plaintiffs’ firms go looking for blood. But every once in a while, the tables turn, and it’s the providers themselves who end up in the defendant’s chair. That’s exactly what happened in New Jersey, where three participants in separate plans are accusing Empower Advisory Group LLC and its affiliates of orchestrating a scheme to mislead participants into rolling over into high-fee products. The Complaint The plaintiffs are from three very different plans: · Shakira Williams-Linzey, from the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium 403(b). · Jennifer Patton, from the Heliogen, Inc. 401(k). · Kathleen McFarland, from the Global Medical Response, Inc. 401(k). Together, they allege that Empower and its web of affiliates—Empower Retirement LLC, Empower Financial Services Inc., and Empower An...

  The deployment of National Guard and other military personnel is at its highest rate in almost 20 years, and there’s a likely chance that one or more of your employees will miss time from work because of military service in the near future . But did you know that federal law creates obligations that go well behind what you might expect from typical worker protection statutes? If you’re not familiar with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), or you need a refresher, this Insight will provide you with a solid overview of the law and your responsibilities. Why Now?   According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers reported over 90,000 instances of workers missing at least a week of work because of military deployments or other civil service during the first eight months of the year. That doubles last year’s numbers and marks the highest level since 2006 during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The reason for this spik...

On Friday, September 5, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or the Commission) brought its multiyear effort to ban employee noncompete agreements to a conclusion . As readers of this blog will certainly remember,  in April 2024 , the FTC voted to adopt a regulation (the  Noncompete Rule  or the Rule) that would have banned the great majority of employee noncompete agreements across the country. The Noncompete Rule was immediately challenged in court and, in August 2024, a  federal court in Texas  held the Noncompete Rule unlawful and issued a broad order vacating the Rule in its entirety. The FTC appealed that decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals but, given the subsequent change in presidential administrations, it was  long anticipated  that the Trump-Vance FTC was likely to abandon its efforts to defend the Biden-era Noncompete Rule. On September 5, these expectations came to fruition, as the FTC finally and definitively announced its ...

When you’re launching a startup, it’s easy to blur the lines between owners, decision-makers and doers—especially when you’re all three. But as soon as you raise money, add a co-founder, or bring on outside help, things get real. Understanding the roles of shareholders, directors and officers isn’t just a corporate formality—it’s how you protect control, avoid legal missteps, and run your company like a pro. Here's the breakdown every founder should know. The Three Roles (and What They Actually Do) Shareholders = Owners Shareholders own the company, hold voting rights and (eventually) get the financial upside . By design, shareholders vote on major corporate matters—such as electing directors, approving mergers and authorizing significant structural changes—while delegating day-to-day management and operational authority to the Board of Directors and corporate officers.   Board of Directors = Strategic Gatekeepers Think of the Board of Directors as the grownups in the roo...

Recent enforcement actions and announcements from the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) and state Attorneys-General (AGs) in California, Colorado and Connecticut, and a California bill that passed the state legislature, signal a new phase of heightened enforcement, focused on honoring consumers’ opt out requests, including through cookie banners and the Global Privacy Control (GPC). Two critical developments stand out from our review of these actions and announcements: a crackdown on non-functional opt-out tools, highlighted by a multi-million dollar settlement and a multi-state investigative sweep; and a renewed emphasis on mandatory risk assessments for data “selling” and “sharing,” including for online advertising practices that are commonplace. Key Takeaways Recent enforcement actions, including a  record-setting settlement with Healthline Media , demonstrate that the California AG and the CPPA are closely scrutinizing whether companies’ technical implementations of c...