Kelly Milligan v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.

── Kelly Milligan v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Date: April 20, 2026 Category: General USCA4 Appeal: 25-1385 Doc: 86 Filed: 04/20/2026 Pg: 1 of 25 PUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 25-1385 KELLY MILLIGAN, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH, INCORPORATED; BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION, Defendants - Appellees, and JOHN/JANE DOE 1, the Senior Vice President-Human Resources Global Banking and Global Wealth and Investment Management Administration at Bank of America Corp., Defendant. ------------------------------ SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT; THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; THE CENTER ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION; THE AMERICAN BENEFITS COUNCIL; THE ERISA INDUSTRY COMMITTEE; SECURITIES INDUSTRY AND FINANCIAL MARKETS ASSOCIATION, Amici Supporting Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Kenneth D. Bell, District Judge. (3:24-cv-00440-KDB-DCK) USCA4 Appeal: 25-1385 Doc: 86 Filed: 04/20/2026 Pg: 2 of 25 Argued: January 29, 2026 Decided: April 17, 2026 Amended: April 20, 2026 Before WILKINSON, WYNN, and BERNER, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wynn wrote the opinion, in which Judge Wilkinson and Judge Berner joined. Judge Wilkinson wrote a concurring opinion. ARGUED: Mathew Paul Jasinski, MOTLEY RICE LLC, Hartford, Connecticut, for Appellant. Michael E. Kenneally, MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. ON BRIEF: John S. Edwards, Jr., AJAMIE LLP, Houston, Texas; Robert A. Izard, Jr., IZARD, KINDALL & RAABE, LLP, West Hartford, Connecticut; Riley Breakell, MOTLEY RICE LLC, Hartford, Connecticut, for Appellant. Samuel S. Shaulson, Miami, Florida, Matthew A. Russell, Chicago, Illinois, Andrew R. Hellman, MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. Ian H. Morrison, Sam Schwartz-Fenwick, Jules A. Levenson, SEYFARTH SHAW LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Amicus Society for Human Resource Management. Andrew J. Pincus, Archis A. Parasharami, Charles A. Rothfeld, Daniel E. Jones, MAYER BROWN LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, the Center on Executive Compensation, the American Benefits Council, and the ERISA Industry Committee. Janet Galeria, Mariel A. Brookins, UNITED STATES CHAMBER LITIGATION CENTER, Washington, D.C., for Amicus the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. Ani Huang, CENTER ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION, Arlington, Virginia, for Amicus the Center on Executive Compensation. Michael Delikat, Alyssa Barnard-Yanni, New York, New York, Robert M. Loeb, ORRICK, HERRINGTON & SUTCLIFFE LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amicus the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. 2 USCA4 Appeal: 25-1385 Doc: 86 Filed: 04/20/2026 Pg: 3 of 25 WYNN, Circuit Judge: This dispute asks whether an employer’s incentive compensation program qualifies as an “employee pension benefit plan” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). ERISA defines an employee pension benefit plan as any compensation program that