They say that April showers bring May flowers, but there were no flowers for ERISA plan sponsors and fiduciaries on May 1 when the Second Circuit held, in a ruling that provoked a vigorous dissenting opinion, that an ERISA...more
A California district court recently denied a motion to dismiss claims that the fiduciaries of a 401(k) plan breached their ERISA fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty by selecting underperforming, high-cost investments...more
2/28/2024
/ 401k ,
Breach of Duty ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Adviser ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Mutual Funds
We have previously blogged on the flurry of class action lawsuits challenging 401(k) plan investments in the BlackRock LifePath Index Target Date Funds. District courts around the country—seven of them in total—have granted...more
Two District Courts have reached conflicting decisions on the same day when ruling on substantially similar allegations that plan fiduciaries violated ERISA by paying too much for recordkeeping services, with one court...more
A third district court has dismissed with prejudice a complaint alleging that defendants breached their fiduciary duties under ERISA by offering 401(k) plan participants the option to invest in BlackRock LifePath Index Target...more
On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Hughes v. Northwestern University, concluding that participants in two Northwestern 403(b) plans plausibly pled fiduciary-breach claims based on...more
4/4/2023
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Investment Management ,
Northwestern University ,
Pleading Standards ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
SCOTUS
A district court in the Southern District of Ohio and one in the Western District of Wisconsin reached opposite conclusions on motions to dismiss claims for fiduciary breach based on allegations that recordkeeping fees were...more
In a pair of report and recommendations issued the same day, a Magistrate Judge in Wisconsin recently recommended that the district court (i) grant motions for reconsideration of prior denials of motions to dismiss claims...more
In Matousek v. MidAmerican Energy Co., 2022 WL 6880771, __ F.4th __ (8th Cir. 2022), the Eighth Circuit joined the Sixth and Seventh Circuits in affirming dismissal of ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims alleging that the...more
10/18/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements
In Baumeister v. Exelon, No. 21-cv-6505, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176711 (N.D. Ill. Sep. 22, 2022) and Coyer v. Univar Sols. USA Inc., No. 22-cv-362, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175972 (N.D. Ill. Sep. 28, 2022), two Illinois district...more
The Seventh Circuit recently provided a ray of sunshine in what has largely been a gloomy stretch for plan sponsors and fiduciaries defending ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims based on allegedly excessive investment and...more
9/8/2022
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
SCOTUS
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, courts around the country have overwhelmingly rejected ERISA fiduciary-breach claims by 401(k) plan participants seeking relief related to investments...more
To the disappointment of many in the ERISA community, the Supreme Court issued a six-page opinion on January 24th that declined to opine on most of the issues that were before the Court in Hughes v. Northwestern University,...more
1/26/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Breach of Duty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Plan Participants ,
Pleading Standards ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tibble v Edison Int ,
Vacated