The Supreme Court’s recent decision in the case Cigna v. Amara sent a very important message to all plan sponsors/employers regarding the importance of maintaining their retirement plan documents, including the required summary plan descriptions and summary of material modifications (as applicable).
The Court’s favor goes in the direction of the participants who were not required to show harmful trust on their current documents in order to obtain equitable relief.
The clear message also communicated by this decision is that it is imperative that all employers who maintain defined contribution plans or defined benefit plans must routinely verify whether their plan documents are up to date and that the messages are consistent between the plan document and the summaries. This is a measure that can insulate the company from liability in what is a potential growing area of class action litigation.
As a reminder, almost all plan documents are on either a 5 or 6 year plan document restatement cycle, depending on whether the document is a prototype or custom document. It is very important that all employers who sponsor plans know where they fall in this cycle.
The advisors at Zinner & Co. can help counsel you through the complexities of staying on top of your plan document requirements, as well as provide third party administration services.
