News & Analysis as of

Prohibited Transactions Fiduciary Duty 401k

Mayer Brown

The Current State of the Law in ERISA Forfeitures Cases

Mayer Brown on

Since September 2023, ERISA plaintiff’s firms have filed approximately 60 class action lawsuits challenging the longstanding practice of plan sponsors using plan forfeitures to offset their employer contributions in 401(k)...more

Fisher Phillips

Retirement Plan Fiduciaries Must Adjust to New Era of ERISA Litigation: How a Recent SCOTUS Ruling and $39M Jury Award Changed the...

Fisher Phillips on

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

Robinson Bradshaw

Lower Pleading Standard for 401(k) Plan Prohibited Transaction Suits

Robinson Bradshaw on

In its April 17 decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University, the U.S. Supreme Court established a plaintiff-friendly standard for ERISA prohibited transaction claims, resolving a circuit court split. As a result, plan...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

Employee Benefit Plan Fiduciaries: Why Solid Fee Benchmarking Should Be On Your To-Do List

Certain transactions between employee benefit plans and “parties in interest” are prohibited under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). ...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

SCOTUS Holds ERISA Requires No Additional Pleading Requirements beyond § 1106 Elements for Prohibited-Transaction Claims,...

Baker Botts L.L.P. on

On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States clarified the pleading requirements to bring a prohibited-transaction claim under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) in Cunningham v....more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Supreme Court Ruling Makes It Easier for Participants To Sue Plan Fiduciaries

Lowenstein Sandler LLP on

On April 17, the Supreme Court unanimously resolved a circuit split in Cunningham v. Cornell University, holding that plan participants need only allege that fiduciaries engaged in a “prohibited transaction” under the...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Supreme Court Clarifies ERISA Prohibited Transaction Pleading Standards

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion, resolved a circuit split and established a plaintiff-friendly pleading standard for ERISA prohibited transaction claims in Cunningham v. Cornell University,...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Supreme Court Decision Means Defense of ERISA Prohibited Transaction Claims Just Got More Difficult and More Protracted

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Cunningham v. Cornell University, unanimously holding that a plaintiff can state a valid claim under ERISA by merely alleging that a plan used “plan assets” to pay a service...more

Shipman & Goodwin LLP

Plan Forfeiture Litigation: A Trend to Watch

Shipman & Goodwin LLP on

The most recent wave of ERISA litigation is focused on the use of plan forfeitures in 401(k) plans, with the newest case, Armenta v. WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. being filed just last week. Although, for years, many...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

Carlton Fields

The Case of Excessive Fees: Supreme Court to Investigate Pleading Standard in ERISA Excessive Fee Litigation

Carlton Fields on

ERISA class action litigation against retirement plan fiduciaries remains a prominent feature of the legal landscape this year. These lawsuits typically involve allegations that plan fiduciaries acted imprudently in...more

Carlton Fields

Changes for Producer Award Trips at IMOs? Fiduciary Rule Suggests Turbulence Ahead

Carlton Fields on

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its long-awaited retirement security rule, also known as the fiduciary rule, broadening the definition of who is an “investment advice fiduciary” under the Employee...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Massachusetts District Court Grants Motion to Dismiss 401(k) Fiduciary Breach and Prohibited Transaction Claims

A federal district court in Massachusetts dismissed ERISA fiduciary breach and prohibited transaction claims against 401(k) plan fiduciaries, ruling that the prohibited transaction claims were time-barred and the fiduciary...more

Jones Day

Another 401(k) Plan Sponsor Faces Novel Suit Regarding its Use of Forfeiture Funds

Jones Day on

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") plaintiffs' bar has found a new way to allege that 401(k) plan sponsors have breached their fiduciary duty....more

Kilpatrick

DOL to Allow Self-Correction of Late Deposits of 401(k) Plan Deferrals and Loan Repayments

Kilpatrick on

On November 18, 2022, the DOL released proposed text for a revised Voluntary Fiduciary Correction (“VFC”) Program and related prohibited transaction exemption (“PTE”) 2002-51. The most significant aspect of the revised VFC...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Eighth Circuit Holds Principal Did Not Breach Its Fiduciary Duty to 401(k) Plan Participants Despite Conflict of Interest

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed a District Court’s finding that Principal Life Insurance Company (“Principal”) did not breach its fiduciary duties regarding its stable value contract for...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Unlocking the process: Guide to ERISA individual prohibited transaction exemptions

Since 1996, the US Department of Labor granted more than 1,200 individual exemptions from the ERISA prohibited transaction rules. One of the distinctive features of ERISA is its prohibition, in ERISA section 406 as a...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

SLOW Your Roll: DOL Temporarily Halts Enforcement of Compliance with PTE and ERISA Fiduciary Obligations for Rollover Advice

Benjamin Franklin once said “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” While that is always prudent advice, the Department of Labor (DOL) believes it’s best to grant an extension to investment advisors and...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Beware of that bribe

I have been a New York Giants football since the days of Ray Perkins, Brad Van Pelt, and Joe Danelo. 4 Super Bowl victories have been far more rewarding than my time as a Mets fan....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

Best Interest Standard of Care for Advisors #41

The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 6) - On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

American Airlines 401(k) Plan Not Required To Offer Stable Value Fund

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

Kilpatrick

Fiduciary Rule 2.0: What You Need to Know About the DOL's New Fiduciary Rule

Kilpatrick on

On June 29, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced1 its new approach to the standards for financial institutions and investment professionals who provide investment advice on a nondiscretionary basis to 401(k) plans,...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Is Personal Information Of Retirement Plan Participants An ERISA Plan Asset?

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

A little more than one year ago, we reported on a settlement (Cassell et al. v. Vanderbilt University, et al.) involving the alleged wrongful use of personal information belonging to retirement plan participants, claimed to...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

DOL Provides Guidance Regarding 401(k) Plans Offering Limited Exposure to Private Equity Within a Diversified Investment Option

Proskauer Rose LLP on

On June 3, 2020, the Department of Labor (the "DOL") published an Information Letter confirming that an investment option under a 401(k) plan (or other defined contribution plan) may include a limited allocation to private...more

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