ERISA Violation Legal News Articles & Interviews

Raleigh, NC The Eastern District of North Carolina seems poised to approve a $2 million settlement that will end an ERISA lawsuit against Lubbock National Bank as trustee of the TBM Consulting Group, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan. It’s an unfortunately familiar story of a major shareholder/officer who unloads overpriced company stock on employees through an ESOP and then moves on.

Atlanta, GA On September 21, the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled that an ERISA lawsuit brought by participants in the Home Depot FutureBuilder 401(k) Plan against plan fiduciaries could proceed as a class action lawsuit. Pizarro v. The Home Depot is particularly notable for the number of participant who may be affected – now estimated to top 300,000.

Benton, IL Participants in the OSF Plans have agreed to settle an ERISA lawsuit, against OSF Healthcare System and related parties, which challenged the plan’s status a church plan. The settlement will require OSF to contribute $25 million over 5 years to the plans, and to provide participants with documents disclosing plan provisions and changes. In addition, participants will be permitted to request twice-yearly statements of their expected benefits.

Wilmington, DE Set against the backdrop of California’s notorious water wars, the 1974 film “Chinatown,” focuses on the mysterious Evelyn, who must finally explain whether a young girl is her daughter or her sister. The awful truth unfolds. She is murdered – shot through the eye as her daughter or sister screams. Evelyn’s private detective/lover is told to leave it alone; he doesn’t understand what’s going on. His partner utters the grim tagline, “Forget it Jake; it’s Chinatown,” from which the movie takes its title. In Alvarez v. Wilmington Trust, the latest Wilmington Trust ERISA lawsuit, the prize at the center of the story is not water rights, but the vast sums of money held in Employee Stock Ownership Plans, ERISA retirement plans designed to invest primarily in employer stock.

Boston, MA On August 31, participants in the Biogen, Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan filed a class-action ERISA lawsuit, alleging that plan administrators mismanaged employees’ retirement savings in ways that will leave them poorer in retirement.

Green Bay, WI  Albert v. Oshkosh Corp., a class action ERISA lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleges that participants in the Oshkosh Corporation and Affiliates Tax Deferred Investment Plan (the “Plan”) were harmed when Plan fiduciaries chose imprudent investments and authorized unreasonably high fees. In a nutshell, the Complaint charges that the Plan wasted the retiree’s money. Foolish fiduciaries lead to pinched pensioners.

Oakland, CA The long-awaited settlement in Rollins v. Dignity Health, a class action ERISA lawsuit, that has been moving through the legal system since 2013, continues to be just that – long awaited. On June 12, the District Court for the Northern District of California refused to approve a proposed settlement for the second time since 2019.

Riverside, CA The allegations made in Gamino v. KPC Healthcare are pretty lurid, especially as ERISA lawsuits go. Even apart from the loaded handgun and the slashed tires, the Complaint tells a tale of shocking financial malfeasance.

Pasadena, CA The Glendale Outpatient Surgery Center’s (“GOSC”) ERISA lawsuit against United HealthCare Services Inc. and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. (collectively “United HealthCare”) claims that the insurance giant skimped on reimbursement for services rendered by GOSC to United HealthCare patients. On May 19 the Ninth Circuit dismissed the lawsuit, opining that the Complaint failed to describe how United HealthCare violated ERISA. The fatal flaw was that the lawsuit did not identify a specific ERISA plan or plan terms that would have required payment. In other words, the court simply did not have enough specific information to act on. The lawsuit was dismissed “without prejudice,” which means that it can be revised and relaunched.

Boston, MA Participants in the Putnam Retirement Plan have agreed to settle their ERISA lawsuit against Putnam Investments and other Plan fiduciaries for $12.5 million and certain prospective changes in plan administration. Following close on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review the lower court’s determination, the settlement leaves open two important questions that arise in countless 401k mismanagement lawsuits. But by keeping these issues alive, the end of Brotherston v. Putnam Investments represents a qualified victory for 401k plan participants.