Plans


Use of Float Income Questioned in New Fidelity Lawsuit

A new proposed class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, accuses Fidelity of improperly handling “float income” that plaintiffs feel should be considered a plan asset and thus returned to plan accounts. It was just last month that the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that float income Fidelity retained in the process …


Employees Sue Morgan Stanley Over 401(k) Plans

Morgan Stanley was hit with a class action Friday, filed on behalf of 60,000 workers. The suit claims that the company mismanaged its own employees’ retirement plans by offering poorly performing funds and charging excessive fees.


Columbia University Targeted in $100 Million Lawsuit Over Excessive Retirement Plan Fees

Columbia University was sued Tuesday on claims its retirement plans charged excessive fees. This follows a string of similar litigation filed over the past week against several top universities, leading to speculation that these suits are merely the first volleys in what’s likely to be a developing trend. The plaintiff in the proposed class-action lawsuit is seeking $100 million from Columbia …


Lawsuits Bring 401(k) Fees Into Question

Is 401(k) fee litigation over? Now that many of the cases contending that large 401(k) plans paid too high fees have been settled or decided, it would be tempting for plan sponsors that haven’t been sued to breathe a sigh of relief. They should not do so, because litigation continues unabated with new theories and targets.


ERISA Excessive Fee Lawsuits Hit 403(b) Plans of Higher Education Institutions

Not surprisingly, in its most recent round of “excessive fee” lawsuits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the plaintiffs’ bar has begun targeting 403(b) plans sponsored by higher education institutions such as Yale University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, and Duke University. Cases like Tibble v. Edison …


NYU, Yale, MIT Sued Over Retirement Plans Allegedly Costing Tens of Millions

New York University, Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are facing lawsuits for allegedly making retirement-savings plan members pay exorbitant fees. NYU, Yale and MIT — each having retirement plans holding over $3 billion in assets — are being individually sued by employees looking to establish a class-action lawsuit. Two of the three …


Trinity Health Settles Church Pension Suit for $75M

Trinity Health Corp. will pay $75 million to settle class action claims that it underfunded its pension plans by improperly treating them as “church plans” exempt from federal law (Lann v. Trinity Health Corp., D. Md., No. 8:14-cv-02237-PJM, motion for preliminary settlement approval filed
8/1/16).


New York Life Sued by Employees Claiming Excessive 401(k) Fees

New York Life Insurance Co. is the newest member to the ever-growing list of asset managers and retirement plan providers being sued by their employees for fiduciary breach in the company 401(k) plan. Current participants in two New York Life 401(k) plans filed a class-action lawsuit — Andrus et al v. New York Life Insurance Company et al — alleging self-dealing by the firm and other affiliated …


Money Managers With In-House 401(k) Plan Options at Risk of Employee Lawsuits: Lawyers

Asset managers that limit employee retirement plan investment choices to proprietary, in-house mutual funds are putting a legal target on their backs, attorneys said. In the context of a rash of lawsuits by employees against financial services companies alleging breach of fiduciary duty in managing 401(k) plans, asset management companies that populate their retirement plans solely with house …