Ninth Circuit Clears NEA of ERISA Liability For Marketing of ‘Valuebuilder’ Annuities

The National Education Association (NEA) is not subject to fiduciary liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act for steps it took to endorse and market annuities that were part of tax code Section 403(b) plans offered to its 57,000 members, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Dec. 20 (Daniels-Hall v. National Educ. Ass’n).

Affirming a lower federal court, the three-judge appellate panel found that the annuities offered as part of the NEA’s “Valuebuilder Plan” were not themselves ERISA pension plans, and that they were instead part of 403(b) plans that were exempt from ...