A New Jersey federal district court recently granted summary judgment in defendants’ favor in an ERISA excessive fee case accusing Evonik’s 401(k) plan fiduciaries of keeping imprudent investments in the plan and of allowing...more
Conflicting orders on motions to dismiss from two California courts foreshadow issues for a new theory of ERISA liability. Employers have faced a recent wave of novel ERISA class actions that challenge the reallocation of...more
Plaintiffs must plead a “sound basis for comparison—a meaningful benchmark” — to sustain their claims of imprudent investment and excessive fee against a 401(k) plan, the federal appeals court in St. Louis has held,...more
A California district court recently foreclosed a former independent contractor’s claims for benefits from ERISA-governed plans when it found that plaintiff was not a “participant” as defined by ERISA and thus did not have...more
A Massachusetts district court recently ordered defendants in an ERISA fiduciary breach case to produce certain communications with their in-house and outside counsel, rejecting defendants’ argument that the communications...more
Recently, in Davis v. Salesforce.com, a California district court dismissed for the second time claims alleging that the defendant 401(k) plan fiduciaries breached their ERISA fiduciary duties by retaining overpriced and...more
As the circuit courts continue to define the pleading standards for fiduciary breach claims challenging investments in defined contribution plans, the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s...more