Sarah Bryan Fask

sfask@littler.com
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Sarah Bryan Fask maintains a nationwide practice focusing on Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation. 

Sarah has successfully defended against claims in federal courts across the country alleging breach of fiduciary duty and an improper denial of disability, medical or severance benefits. Over the course of her career, she has secured favorable summary judgment verdicts in multiple cases while bringing many others to successful settlements. She also litigates ERISA preemption issues (both offensively and defensively) and enforces ERISA plan subrogation and reimbursement rights.

Sarah also regularly counsels and represents employers with issues involving the interplay between collective bargaining, multiemployer pension plan obligations and withdrawal liability. Sarah helps businesses understand withdrawal liability estimates and assessments, and represents businesses through any necessary request for review, arbitration, and any settlement negotiations. She has extensive experience defending against allegations of successorship, evade or avoid transactions, and the construction industry exemption.

Sarah is leading resource in pension reform efforts and the multiemployer provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, specifically. Sarah helps employers strategize regarding the impact of multiemployer pension reform on their business.

She advises buyers and sellers on the implications of multiemployer plans and withdrawal liability in transactions. Sarah works closely with corporate deal counsel to perfect ERISA Section 4204 provisions in asset sales and submit applications to funds for a waiver of the bond requirements in qualifying transactions.

Finally, Sarah also represents employers in disputes with funds regarding the scope of the contribution obligation. She prides herself on developing common-sense economical solutions, while recognizing the long-term implications of audit dispute resolutions for employers.

In addition to her ERISA litigation practice, Sarah counsels and defends claims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation arising under:

  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  • The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
  • The Family and Medical Leave Act (FLMA)
  • The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act
  • The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination
  • The Philadelphia Fair Employment Practices Ordinance

Sarah works with in-house counsel and human resources professionals to implement best practices, effectively address employee concerns and avoid unnecessary litigation.

If litigation is unavoidable, she draws on her years of experience in federal courts, well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. When litigating, Sarah ensures that all strategy decisions are made with the clients’ goals for the litigation front and center.

Selected Matters

  • Perlman v. General Electric et al., 24-CV-514 (2nd Cir. 2024): upheld the district court’s decision dismissing the complaint seeking benefits under an ERISA-covered pension plan, severance pay, and stock options
  • Canter v. AT&T Umbrella Ben. Plan No. 3 et al., 33 F.4th 949 (7th Cir. 2022): upheld the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the Plan in an ERISA claim for long-term disability benefits
  • Davidson v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 21-16707 (9th Cir. 2022): upheld the district court’s decision granting Hewlett-Packard summary judgment in an invasion of privacy claim (stemming from claims for benefits under an ERISA plan)
  • Clark v. Certainteed Salaried Pension Plan, 860 Fed. Appx. 337 (5th Cir. 2021): upheld the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the employer and ERISA plan sponsor in an action alleging claims under ERISA 502(a)(1)(B) (denial of benefits) and 502(a)(3) (breach of fiduciary duty)
  • Green v. Sanofi Pasteur, Civ. A. No. 21-1462 (M.D.Pa. 2022): granting summary judgment to the employer in claims of sexual harassment and hostile work environment
  • Davis-Jackson v. American Airlines, Civ. A. No. 18-2822 (E.D. Pa. 2022): granting summary judgment to the employer for claims brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and Title VII

Credentials & Recognition

Speaking Engagements

Multiemployer Contributing Employer Forum

  • May 20, 2024
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Understanding the Risk, Strategy and Impact of Providing Abortion-Related Employee Benefits

  • May 11, 2023
  • Littler Executive Employer Conference, Phoenix, AZ

What Employment Lawyers Need to Know About ERISA Litigation

  • April 19, 2023
  • Pennsylvania Bar Institute

Multiemployer Contributing Employer Forum

  • April 18, 2023
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Proposed Regulation: Actuarial Assumptions for Determining an Employer’s Withdrawal Liability

  • October 21, 2022
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Using Litigation to Clarify the Legal Status of ERISA Plans' Coverage of Abortion Services and Related Travel

  • July 14, 2022

Multiemployer Plans in Corporate Transactions

  • May 24, 2022
  • 2022 Employee Benefits and Mergers and Acquisitions National Institute - American Bar Association Joint Committee on Employee Benefits

ARPA Relief for Multiemployer Funds: PBGC Weighs in on Its Interim Final Rule

  • September 14, 2021
  • American Bar Association Webinar

Special Financial Assistance Interim Final Regulations: The Employer’s Perspective

  • July 12, 2021
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Multiemployer Plans in Corporate Transactions

  • May 7, 2021
  • American Bar Association Webinar

Handling Witnesses and Opposing Counsel During Depositions

  • November 5, 2020
  • 14th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference

This Zoom Proceeding is Now in Session: An In-house Counsel’s Guide to Virtual Employment Litigation

  • September 10, 2020
  • ACC Virtual Employment & Labor CLE Institute

How to Prepare and Win and/or Defend a Single Plaintiff Discrimination Suit: Top 20 Tips

  • November 2017
  • ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law 11th Annual Conference

Conducting an Effective Internal Workplace Investigation

  • May 2016
  • ABA Young Lawyers’ Division Spring Conference

Additional Thought Leadership

PBGC Looks To Clarify Withdrawal Liability Methodology

  • October 13, 2022
  • Law360

ERISA: What Employment Lawyers Need to Know

  • Spring 2018
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Section of Labor and Employment Law – American Bar Association, Vol. 46, No. 3

Sweeping Changes Made to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26 and 37

  • Winter 2016
  • American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Labor and Employment Law Committee Newsletter

Equal Work for Equal Pay: 50 Years After the Equal Pay Act

  • Winter 2014
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Section of Labor and Employment Law – American Bar Association, Vol. 42, No. 2

Vance v. Ball State: Narrowing the Definition of “Supervisors”

  • Spring 2013
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Section of Labor and Employment Law – American Bar Association, Vol. 41, No. 3

Reviewing the 2011-12 Supreme Court Term

  • Fall 2012
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Section of Labor and Employment Law - American Bar Association, Vol. 41, No. 1

The Fair Credit Reporting Act: An Overview of the Act’s Requirements for Employers

  • 2012
  • 201 Practice Series
  • Young Lawyers Division - American Bar Association

Dog Fighting, Sex, and Drugs: How Sports Leagues React to Misconduct Off the Field

  • Winter 2011
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Section of Labor and Employment Law - American Bar Association

New Lawyer Notes: The Fundamentals of Independent Contractors

  • 2011
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Section of Labor and Employment Law - American Bar Association, Vol. 40, No. 1

Nursing Mothers in the Workplace: A New Amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act

  • November 2010
  • New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Quarterly
  • Vol. 32, No. 2

Anti-Doping Regulation in Professional and Olympic Sports

  • Winter 2010
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Vol. 38, No 2

The Fundamentals of Independent Contractors

  • 2010
  • 101 Practice Series
  • Young Lawyers Division - American Bar Association

Beware Those Bearing Gifts: Physicians' Fiduciary Duty to Avoid Pharmaceutical Marketing

  • 2009
  • University of Kansas Law Review
  • Vol. 57, No. 3, (reprinted in The Defense Law Journal, February 2010)
  • Thomas Hafmeister

Workplace Violence: A Primer

  • 2009
  • 101 Practice Series
  • Young Lawyers Division - American Bar Association

Eliminate Micro-Abuses to Retain Women and Minorities

  • Fall 2008
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Vol. 31, No. 1

Let us know how we can help you navigate your particular workplace legal issues.