Best Lawyers Names Steve Lebau and Richard Neuworth to "Maryland's Best Lawyers"

Richard Neuworth and Stephen Lebau of Lebau & Neuworth LLC have again been named Best Lawyers in the 2019 edition of "Maryland's Best Lawyers." Both attorneys have been selected for inclusion on the list multiple times over the past two decades in their respective areas of Employment Law practice.

Best Lawyers identifies attorneys, such as Richard and Stephen, who have been selected, through a peer-review methodology, to be on the list of the "Maryland's Best Lawyers" -- which was published exclusively in the October 26, 2018, edition of The Daily Record.

Richard Neuworth, who has been handling personal injury, employment and employee-benefit litigation for 35 years, has extensive experience in employee benefit, discrimination, harassment, personal injury, workers compensation and Social Security disability cases. An “AV Preeminent-Rated” attorney who was also listed in “Best Lawyers in America” in Labor and Employment Law in 2010, Richard is a graduate of the George Washington University and the University of Baltimore Law School.

Stephen Lebau, who has also achieved “Super Lawyers” status annually for years, has been an advocate for employee rights for more than 25 years. An active member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association, the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, the Federal Bar Association and the Maryland State Bar Association, Stephen graduated from Georgetown Law School with high honors and Phi Beta Kappa from George Washington University.

Contact either of these "Maryland's Best Lawyers" if you need Employment Law assistance at (410) 296-3030 or lebauneuworth.com/contact-us.

Employee Rights: How Your Benefit and Pension Plans Are Protected

Not so long ago, Lebau & Neuworth attorneys represented a long-term employee who was terminated one day before his 20^th employment anniversary, which would have increased his pension benefits by more than $150,000. This case was successfully resolved. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) is the federal law that sets minimum standards and protections for qualified employment plans such as pension plans or health benefit plans. Section 1140 of ERISA prohibits any person from interfering with an employee’s rights under the act. Specifically it states:

It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge, fine, suspend, expel, discipline, or discriminate against a participant or beneficiary for exercising any right to which he is entitled under the provisions of an employee benefit plan . . . or for the purpose of interfering with the attainment of any right to which such participant may become entitled under the plan . . . . It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge, fine, suspend, expel, or discriminate against any person because he has given information or has testified or is about to testify in any inquiry or proceeding relating to this chapter . . . .

While this does not guarantee an employee their job until they are fully vested in their employer’s benefit plan, section 1140 does prevent employers from taking any action for the purpose of preventing an employee from obtaining benefits. This means that an employer cannot do anything to an employee that is intended to purposefully prevent that employee from obtaining benefits that they would have otherwise been entitled to. For instance, an employer cannot fire an employee a week before they become fully vested in a plan in order to prevent that employee from fully vesting. Section 1140 also applies to health benefit plans and would make it illegal for an employer to fire an employee who recently became ill for the purpose of reducing possible increases in that employee’s healthcare costs. Know your ERISA rights. If you think your employer has interfered or is attempting to interfere with your entitlement to benefits under a qualified plan, the attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth can help. We are experienced in dealing with these types of claims. Contact us today.

What is ERISA? And Tips For Other Unlawful Interference Claims

What is ERISA? The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) is the federal law that sets minimum standards and protections for qualified employment plans such as pension plans or health benefit plans. Section 1140 of ERISA prohibits any person from interfering with an employee’s rights under the act. Specifically it states:

While this does not guarantee an employee their job until they are fully vested in their employer’s benefit plan, section 1140 does prevent employers from taking any action for the purpose of preventing an employee from obtaining benefits. This means that an employer cannot do anything to an employee that is intended to purposefully prevent that employee from obtaining benefits that they would have otherwise been entitled to. For instance, an employer cannot fire an employee a week before they become fully vested in a plan in order to prevent that employee from fully vesting. Section 1140 also applies to health benefit plans and would make it illegal for an employer to fire an employee who recently became ill for the purpose of reducing possible increases in that employee’s healthcare costs. If you think your employer has or is attempting to interfere with your entitlement to benefits under a qualified plan the attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth may be able to help. We are experienced in dealing with these types of claims. Not so long ago, Lebau & Neuworth attorneys represented a long- term employee who was terminated one day before his 20^th employment anniversary, which would have increased his pension benefit, by more than $150,000. This case was successfully resolved. Know your ERISA rights, and contact us if you have any questions. Thank you.

ERISA – Investment Fees For Pension Plans – Breach of Fiduciary Duty?

An interesting article has raised the issue whether pension plan sponsors and administrators breach their fiduciary duties to plan participants by paying investment fees for actively managed plans. As summarized by Dan Solin: The vast majority of 401(k) plans are populated with actively managed funds, where the fund manager attempts to beat a designated benchmark, like the S&P 500 index. These funds are included as investment options based on advice of brokers, registered investment advisors or insurance companies responsible for advising the plan sponsor. A recent article by Charles D. Ellis questions this practice and raises issues that have been troubling me for a long time. The article is titled: Murder on the Orient Express: The Mystery of Underperformance. For more on this see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-solin/401k-underperformance_b_1656129.html.