United States Supreme Court Decision in Unum v. Ward

In UNUM Life Ins. Co. of America v. Ward, a unanimous Supreme Court held that California cannot deem an employer to be an agent of an insurer for purposes of an ERISA-covered plan, because the state employer-agency rule “relates to” ERISA plans and is therefore preempted by ERISA. The Court, however, upheld the decision of the Ninth Circuit that California’s notice-prejudice rule is a “law . . . which regulates insurance,” thus escaping ERISA preemption to apply to insurers operating in the state.

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