It was a lawsuit unlike many others.
Last October, the ERISA Industry Committee sued Oregon—or more specifically the Oregon Retirement Savings Board— for violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) related to the employer reporting requirement imposed by the state-run retirement plan, OregonSaves.
But ERIC, which advocates for large employers on health, retirement, and compensation public policies, announced Wednesday that it has settled the case.
In its complaint, ERIC argued that ERISA law preempts the OregonSaves reporting requirements imposed on employers that already provide plans to their employees.
ERIC’s injunction request was only against this employer reporting requirement, and not the OregonSaves program, citing “the important void that the program fills for individuals who don’t have access to an employer-provided retirement plan.”
“As a result of a settlement with Oregon, ERIC dismissed its lawsuit against the ORSB,” Annette Guarisco Fildes, president and CEO of The ERISA Industry Committee, said in a statement.
Under the terms of the settlement, she explained, ERIC members may inform the state, if it asks, that they are ERIC members, and the state will verify their membership with ERIC to confirm their exemption from OregonSaves.
“In the meantime, ERIC will continue to work with the appropriate federal regulatory agencies to seek changes to existing reporting forms required under ERISA that can provide Oregon and other states the information they desire,” she added.
ERIC said it will continue to advocate on the federal, state, and local levels “to protect large employers’ ability to design and administer health and retirement plans for their unique workforce, and fight against taxes, mandates, and unnecessary compliance burdens.”
The ability of large employers to follow a single set of federal rules is critical to their ability to provide health and retirement benefits to workers, families, and retirees across the country, the trade group argues.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
