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Fiduciary Duty 401k Corporate Counsel

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Every Little Thing … Employer Considerations as New 401(k) Lawsuit Includes Extensive Claims

by Alex Smith A recently filed lawsuit related to Swiss Re’s 401(k) plan stands out because of the extensive assortment of allegations...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Retirement Plan Update – Forfeitures are New Focus of Fiduciary Breach Litigation

Many employer-sponsored defined contributions plans, including 401(k) profit sharing plans and money purchase pension plans include a vesting schedule – a period over which a plan participant earns a nonforfeitable right to...more

Mintz

Texas Court Rules ESG Lawsuit Against Employer's 401(k) Plan Can Proceed

Mintz on

Recently, a Texas federal court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss in a lawsuit featuring allegations that an employer's 401(k) plan, which allegedly relied on ESG principles when making investments, violated ERISA. ...more

ArentFox Schiff

Airline 401k Decision Illustrates Continued Takeoff of ESG Litigation

ArentFox Schiff on

A Texas federal judge recently permitted an environmental, social, and governance- (ESG) related Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case filed by an airline pilot against his employer and its benefits plan to...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

District Courts Reach Opposite Conclusions on 401(k) Excessive Fee Claims

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

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Failure to Identify Sound Comparisons Sinks ERISA Fee, Investment Claims in Eighth Circuit

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

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

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Eighth Circuit Joins Growing Number of Courts Rejecting Common ERISA Fee and Investment Claims

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

Fisher Phillips

Reducing Your 401(k) Litigation Risks – 10 Questions Employers Need to Ask ASAP

Fisher Phillips on

Here’s the scenario: Your company has had a 401(k) plan for the past 25 years. Employees appreciate the retirement benefit, and it seems to be operating well with very few questions or concerns from your employees. You’re...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

ERISA Litigation Roundup: In the Aftermath of Hughes, Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Excessive Fee Lawsuit

On August 29, 2022, the Seventh Circuit decided Albert v. Oshkosh Corporation, affirming a district court’s dismissal of breach of fiduciary claims related to Oshkosh Corporation’s management of its 401(k) plan, and striking...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Between A Rock and A Hard Place... ESG Investments in 401(k) Plan Line-Ups

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The ever evolving landscape of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and 401(k) plan investment options may have just become even more complicated....more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Sixth Circuit Rejects Arbitration for Proposed Fiduciary Breach Class Action

The Sixth Circuit, in a matter of first impression for that Circuit, held an arbitration clause contained in an individual employment agreement did not apply to ERISA fiduciary breach claims brought on behalf of a defined...more

Verrill

Thoughts on the DOL’s Proposed ESG Regulation

Verrill on

The latest installment in the regulatory back-and-forth over the investment of ERISA-governed retirement plan assets based on environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors arrived on October 14, 2021 in the...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

ERISA Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Affirms Decision in Favor of American Airlines in Suit Over Plan Investment Alternative...

On July 19, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Ortiz v. American Airlines, upholding the dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed against American Airlines, the American Airlines Pension Asset...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Fifth Circuit: Plan Participants Lacked Standing To Bring ERISA Fiduciary Breach Claims

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

American Airlines, Inc. and its affiliated credit union recently defeated an appeal challenging a low-yield investment option in the airline’s 401(k) plan when the Fifth Circuit ruled that the plan participants lacked Article...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Emerging Case Law Supports Forum-Selection Clauses in ERISA Plans

A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit upholds the enforceability of forum-selection clauses in ERISA plans. The case, In re Becker v. United States Dist. Court, No. 20-72805, 2021 WL 1219745 (9th Cir. Apr. 1, 2021), is in...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Is Data a Plan Asset: Another Court Says No

Last week marked a key development in the nascent and still evolving body of case law addressing the status of 401(k) plan participant data as an ERISA “plan asset.” On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, The U.S. District Court for...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Ninth Circuit Enforces Forum Selection Clause in 401(k) Plan

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

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

DOL Issues Guidance on Private Equity Investments in 401(k) Plans

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance in the form of an Information Letter describing the process that plan fiduciaries should undertake in determining whether an investment fund having a private equity...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Experience can mean a lot of things

I always talk about how plan sponsors need to work with experienced financial advisors, third party administration (TPA) firms, and ERISA attorneys on their plan needs. Like with reasonable fees, I believe that the term...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

You Can Learn Something New Every Day

As an ERISA attorney, I always have an open phone policy with plan sponsors, financial advisors, accountants, TPAs, and other attorneys from around the country on questions they may have about their plan or a client’s...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

A Ninth Circuit Ruling Repaves the Intersection of ERISA and Arbitration Law

Dorman v. The Charles Schwab Corp. narrows the options of employees asserting breach of fiduciary duty in retirement plans. Breach of fiduciary duty claims that “arise out of” and “relate to” a 401(k) plan—including those...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Ninth Circuit Answers Some Questions About Arbitration of ERISA Claims

In two opinions—one published and one unpublished—the Ninth Circuit overturned prior precedent and held that a Plan amendment requiring arbitration meant that an individual had to arbitrate, on an individual basis, purported...more

Littler

Striking Down Decades-Old Precedent, Ninth Circuit Rules That ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims May Be Arbitrated

Littler on

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

McDermott Will & Schulte

Oracle Granted Partial Summary Judgment in 401(k) Fees/Investment Option Case

The US District Court for the District of Colorado granted partial summary judgment to 401(k) fiduciaries, holding that ERISA’s six-year statute of repose barred some claims and rejecting challenges to the plan’s fees....more

McDermott Will & Schulte

ERISA Plan Controversy: Rising Stakes for Those Unprepared

WHAT’S THE EXPOSURE? • Settlements up to $140 million • Last year alone, settlements of $17 million, $22 million, $24 million, and among others • Plaintiffs’ lawyers generally get 1/3 of the settlement amounts • Plaintiffs’...more

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