Update and Discussion on Legal and Practical Issues
A Supreme Court decision in April made it easier for plaintiffs to keep ERISA prohibited transaction claims in play longer, and just days later a rare ERISA trial resulted in a huge win for a class of 401(k) plan...more
On January 10, 2025, in Spence v. American Airlines, a federal district court in Texas ruled that American Airlines (the company) and the committee overseeing its 401(k) plans (the committee) breached their duty of loyalty...more
99 Cents Only Stores have come to terms with an excessive fee suit involving their 401(k) plan for about $749,901.01 more than their name. 99 Cents Only was sued for 1) for breach of fiduciary duties of prudence and...more
Mutual of America 401(k) plan participants have brought a class action lawsuit against Mutual of America Life Insurance Company for alleged breach of fiduciary duty....more
Welcome to Goodwin’s ERISA Litigation Update. Litigation involving ERISA-governed benefits plans has exploded in recent years. Lawyers in our award-winning ERISA Litigation practice have extensive experience litigating these...more
On April 1, 2021, the Ninth Circuit became the third circuit court to conclude that a forum-selection clause in an ERISA 401(k) plan is enforceable. The Ninth Circuit thus denied a petition for mandamus seeking to overturn a...more
Among the many claims brought by plaintiffs challenging investment offerings in defined contribution plans is the claim that plans should offer stable value funds in lieu of more conservative capital preservation funds, such...more
A federal district court in Illinois recently dismissed “excessive fee” and “imprudent investment” claims against the plan fiduciaries of the CareerBuilder 401(k) plan fiduciaries, relying largely on the Seventh Circuit’s...more
In a pair of opinions issued on Aug. 20, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit expressly overruled its 35-year precedent that Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) disputes were not arbitrable. The...more
On August 20, 2019, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., overturning its 1984 position in Amaro v. Continental Can Co. that lawsuits filed...more
In the past two years, more than 16 prominent colleges and universities across the country have been targeted by class action lawsuits filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) challenging the fees and...more
In the last several months, plaintiffs have filed multiple class action lawsuits against plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries and stable value fund providers. These lawsuits, which have involved 401(k) plans sponsored by large...more
Participants in Anthem Inc.’s $5.1 billion 401(k) plan have sued plan fiduciaries, alleging that they have top-shelf tastes that constitute a breach of the duties of loyalty and prudence owed to participants, and that the...more