Ted Becker
Subscribe to Ted Becker's PostsTed Becker is co-head of McDermott’s ERISA Litigation practice and a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. He focuses his practice on litigation under ERISA and related federal and state actions, and defense of government investigations and audits relating to employee benefit, health and welfare, and retirement plans brought by the US Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, and the US Department of Justice. He is a leading voice and nationally recognized practitioner in this complex practice area. Read Ted Becker's full bio.
Shifting Sands: DOL Recent Developments
By Ted Becker and Julian André on Oct 24, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Fiduciary and Investment Issues
There have been significant developments that will impact the future of US Department of Labor regulations and litigation related to employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Ted Becker and Julian André recently presented a webinar for the National Center for Employee Ownership and shared what ESOP fiduciaries, ESOP company directors, and employees involved with ESOPs need...
Continue Reading
The Changing Landscape of ESOP Litigation
By Ted Becker and Julian André on Jun 17, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
In this webinar recorded for the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), Ted Becker and Julian André discuss the changing landscape of employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) litigation. The program covers trends in recent significant court decisions relating to ESOPs as well as the latest theories advanced by plaintiff’s counsel and the US Department of...
Continue Reading
Decisive Victory: ERISA Class Action Dismissed with Prejudice
By Ted Becker and Julian André on Jan 31, 2024
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
In 2016, Inland Fresh Seafood Corporation of America established an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), a type of defined contribution employee benefit plan. The ESOP then purchased 100% of Inland Fresh stock from Inland Fresh’s former shareholders. Since the ESOP was founded, it has provided substantial benefits to Inland Fresh’s employee participants. In November 2022,...
Continue Reading
The Silver Tsunami Is Coming – Here’s How ESOPs Can Help
By Ted Becker on Nov 15, 2022
Posted In Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Retirement Plans
How can employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) help business owners ensure their businesses remain locally owned? In this article published in The Gazette, McDermott Partner Ted Becker provides insight into this popular type of employee benefit plan. “The most important thing to do is to get an adviser who understands ESOPs,” Becker said. Access the...
Continue Reading
COVID and a Cloud of Dust
By Ted Becker on Nov 3, 2022
Posted In Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans
The COVID-19 pandemic forced lawmakers to respond with an array of legislation to help Americans, such as the No Surprises Act, the Families First Coronavirus Responses Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Now, however, pandemic-related litigation involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is becoming more common. In...
Continue Reading
Lessons from Recent ESOP Litigation
By Ted Becker on Jan 25, 2022
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
What are some recent trends in employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) litigation? In these slides, McDermott’s Ted Becker and Allison Egan offer insight into what plan fiduciaries need to know. Access the slides.
Continue Reading
Investor Guidelines for Shared Value Creation in Employee Ownership Transitions Unveiled
By Ted Becker on Feb 27, 2020
Posted In Employee Benefits, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Fiduciary and Investment Issues
One of the big questions for the employee ownership field is, why has the number of US employee-owned firms failed to grow significantly over the last couple of decades? An upcoming paper from Fifty by Fifty proposes that the barrier to growth is a lack of agency. Employees don’t have the knowledge, skills or capital...
Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Decides Not to Rehear Its Decision Requiring Arbitration of ERISA Claims
By Richard J. Pearl and Ted Becker on Dec 19, 2019
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Employee Benefits, Employment, Retirement Plans
As we wrote in a previous On the Subject, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had signaled that it might rehear its August 2019 decisions in Dorman v. The Charles Schwab Corp., in which the Court compelled arbitration of ERISA class-action claims relating to a 401(k) plan. After ordering additional briefing, however, the Ninth Circuit denied the...
Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Considers Rehearing in ERISA Arbitration Case
By Richard J. Pearl and Ted Becker on Nov 5, 2019
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Fiduciary and Investment Issues, Retirement Plans
The Ninth Circuit signaled that it might rehear Dorman v. The Charles Schwab Corp., where earlier this year it held that a mandatory arbitration provision required arbitration of an ERISA fiduciary-breach claim. Access the full article.
Continue Reading
Eye on ERISA: Q&A with McDermott’s Ted Becker
By Ted Becker on Oct 8, 2019
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Health and Welfare Plans, Retirement Plans
As presidential hopefuls bemoan the high cost of healthcare, McDermott’s Ted Becker imagines a stack of lawsuits pushed toward corporations and insurance companies. If workers can use the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to challenge 401(k) plans’ fees and investments, why can’t they use it to sue over how their health insurance plans are managed?...
Continue Reading
