Employee Benefits Law

Analyzes the most significant employee benefit cases decided by the Fifth Circuit between June 1991 and May 1992 regarding reduction of benefits, standards to determine when a document qualifies as a summary plan description, application of the arbitrary and capricious standards of review, oral modification of ERISA-governed plans, preemption, multiple employer welfare arrangements, and calculation of benefits. This article also discusses the case in which the Fifth Circuit held that an employer may reduce medical benefits for specific diseases, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This survey discussed some of the most significant employee benefits cases decided this term.