The U.S. Department of Labor has expanded its campaign to defend employers’ utilization of pension risk transfer transactions by filing an amicus brief in a Bristol-Myers Squibb appeal, joining a coalition of business groups, insurers and state attorneys general urging the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a district court decision that allowed retirees’ ERISA claims to proceed against a Bristol-Myers Squibb pension risk transfer.

The filings collectively argue that the plaintiffs—company pension fund beneficiaries—lack Article III standing to bring suit because they continue to receive their full pension benefits and that allowing such lawsuits to proceed could undermine employers’ willingness to sponsor defined benefit pension plans.

The latest filing marks the second time the department has sided with employers in pension risk transfer litigation this year, following its January amicus brief supporting Lockheed Martin in a similar case before the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Together, the briefs signal a broader shift in the department’s litigation strategy under the administration of President Donald Trump. The agency is taking an active role in defending pension risk transfers as lawful and subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, pushing back against what it has characterized as “regulation by litigation.”

It also continues a broader campaign from the department to use amicus filings to weigh in on appellate cases that concern ERISA disputes. For instance, the DOL has frequently sided with employers on plan sponsors’ discretion to use retirement plan forfeiture money.

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