Calif. Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit for COVID-19 Relief Against Motion Picture Health Plan

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge has ruled that two motion picture employees cannot sue their health plan for breach of fiduciary duty after it expanded benefit eligibility in response to the COVID-19 crisis to some participants, while refusing to extend it to other similarly situated individuals.

In an Oct. 7 order, Judge R. Gary Klausner of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that plan administrators who amend the terms of a multiemployer healthcare plan cannot be held liable under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The Motion Picture Industry Health plan is …