ERISA Violation Legal News Articles & Interviews

Los Angeles, CA Delgado v. ILWU-PMA Welfare Plan, an ERISA lawsuit now pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, has more lives than a cat.

Albany, NY On December 14, 2018, Adele Vargas filed a class action ERISA lawsuit against General Electric Company (“GE”) and Jeffrey Immelt, its former CEO. She alleges that GE improperly manipulated its earnings and inflated its stock price.

Philadelphia, PA On September 28, 2018, Gordon Stevens filed a class action ERISA lawsuit claiming that his employer, SEI Investments Company, forced him and other SEI 401(k) plan participants into retirement investments that made money for the company, regardless of the employees’ own best interests.

Washington, DC When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton reportedly replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” Now, however, roughly $5 trillion, or a fifth of all U.S. retirement assets, sit in 401(k) accounts. Today’s Willie Suttons are there, too, as recent ERISA lawsuits and criminal prosecutions confirm.

Boston, MA On October 10, 2018, participants in the Fidelity Retirement Savings Plan filed a class action ERISA pension plan lawsuit against the Plan’s fiduciaries. The Complaint alleges that the Plan fiduciaries breached their duties under ERISA, thus harming the Plan and its participants and beneficiaries.

San Francisco, CA An ERISA pension plan lawsuit has survived numerous procedural challenges and will proceed as a class action against investment manager Franklin Templeton. Fernandez v. Franklin Resources Inc. claims that the fiduciaries in charge of managing the Franklin Templeton 401(k) Plan breached their duty to plan participants by causing the Plan to invest in funds offered and managed by Franklin Templeton, when better-performing and lower-cost funds choices were available. The motive was to benefit Franklin Templeton’s investment management business.

Santa Clara, CA: Prosthetics with a variety of microprocessors are the new “wearable technology” and they’re making headlines. Companies have designed the devices with

San Francisco, CA On July 24, 2018, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs in a pension plan lawsuit could continue their legal fight as a class action, rather than having to arbitrate individually.Munro v. University of Southern California is a major victory for ERISA plan participants who were required to sign individual arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. The Court likened these ERISA lawsuits to whistle blower lawsuits–essentially viewing the plaintiffs as public prosecutors acting in defense of the pension plan itself. This is a very broad argument that may ultimately have wider legal implications.

Charlotte, NC In April 2018, Benjamin Reetz filed a class action ERISA lawsuit on behalf of himself and other participants in the Lowe’s 401(k) Plan. The lawsuit claims that Aon Hewitt, the plan’s investment advisor, lined its pockets by recommending one of its own poorly performing investment funds. Lowe’s then fell down on the job by failing to catch what Aon Hewitt was doing. Wait, you think, didn’t I read this before, but was it about Home Depot or maybe Invesco?

Atlanta, GA On May 24,2018, participants in the Invesco 401(k) Plan filed an ERISA lawsuit in the Northern District of Georgia. The ERISA lawsuit contends that Invesco, Ltd. profited from the ERISA plan it offered to employees. The situation is rife with potential conflicts of interest because the employer, a plan fiduciary, is also an investment manager. Lest we lose track in this tangled web, self-dealing is against the law.