ERISA preemption: a “Serbonian Bog”

Law.com reports: "Becker Calls on Congress, Justices to Fix ERISA." According to the article, 3rd Circuit Court Judge Edward Becker, "in his opening paragraph of a lengthy and powerfully worded concurring opinion" in DiFelice v. Aetna, states that he wants…

Law.com reports: “Becker Calls on Congress, Justices to Fix ERISA.” According to the article, 3rd Circuit Court Judge Edward Becker, “in his opening paragraph of a lengthy and powerfully worded concurring opinion” in DiFelice v. Aetna, states that he wants to add his voice “to the rising judicial chorus urging that Congress and the Supreme Court revisit what is an unjust and increasingly tangled ERISA regime.” The opinion is artfully written and a must-read for anyone interested in ERISA preemption.

Continue reading for the facts of the case as well as key portions from the opinion, including the answer to this question: “What is a Serbonian blog?” Judge Becker used the term in his opinion.

UPDATE: By the way, at the end of the opinion, Judge Becker writes:

The Clerk of Court is directed to send a copy of this opinion (with attention directed to the concurrence) to the Solicitor of the Department of Labor; the Chair, Ranking Member, Chief Majority Counsel, and Minority Counsel of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and the Chair, Ranking Member, Chief Majority Counsel, and Minority Counsel of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

(This post should probably be entitled: “3rd Circuit Court Judge Becker has had it with ERISA!”)

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