Financial Legal News Articles & Interviews

Atlanta, GA In 2010, Jeff Bickerstaff Jr. filed a class action excessive overdraft fee lawsuit against SunTrust Bank, claiming that the $36 overdraft fees he paid when he overdrew his checking account violated Georgia state laws limiting interest charges. The Complaint claims that the fees amount to interest rates as high as 1,000 percent.

Los Angeles, CA Marshall v. Northrop Grumman Corp a class action ERISA lawsuit alleges that fiduciaries of the Northrup Grumman Savings Plan (“Plan”) squandered nearly $10 million in employee 401k retirement money through mismanagement that included paying unnecessary administrative fees between 2010 and 2016.

New York, NY McCutcheon v. Colgate- Palmolive Co. is a rarity among modern ERISA lawsuits for the simple reason that it deals with a defined benefit retirement plan. In her class action lawsuit, Rebecca McCutcheon claims that her benefit and the benefits of many participants in the Colgate-Palmolive Co. Employees’ Retirement Income Plan (“Plan”) were miscalculated. Surprisingly, the expert witness offered by the Plan was unable to answer fundamental questions about how benefits were calculated.

New Haven, CT Peter Salovey, the president of Yale University, must submit to a deposition in a long-running class action ERISA lawsuit. Vellali v. Yale University claims that the university, as a fiduciary of the Yale University Retirement Account Plan (the “Plan”), mismanaged Plan assets and investment options in a way that harmed workers trying to save for retirement. It occurs in the context of several similar university ERISA lawsuits. The results of these have been very mixed – some wins, some losses for plan participants, with no clear trend developing. Yale University also has a long history of labor troubles.

Chicago, IL Avant LLC, the online lending phenomenon which had previously been hailed as a “breakout financial success story,” has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $3.85 million. Although the lawsuit largely relied on a different federal statute, it shares much of the consumer financial protection zeal of the excessive overdraft fee lawsuits recently leveled against credit unions, banks and payday lenders. But it also reveals shortcomings in federal consumer protection laws.

Los Angeles, CA Three ERISA lawsuits – two in the District Court for the Central District of California and two in the Northern District of California – show that ERISA can be a powerful tool to protect workers’ rights. Plan participants who claim that their 401k accounts were mismanaged are on a lawsuit hot streak, and patients who have had coverage denied for medical treatments deemed too “investigational” are beginning to see some success, as well.

San Diego, CA Navy Federal Credit Union has agreed to settle a class action excessive overdraft fee lawsuit for $24.5 million. Plaintiffs’ lawyers will reportedly seek fees of $6.1 million, approximately 25 percent of the total settlement amount. The settlement marks the end of a lawsuit filed in June 2017.

Chicago, IL On March 31, participants in the Boeing Voluntary Investment Plan (VIP Plan) filed a class action ERISA lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois. The lawsuit alleges that Boeing knew about problems with its 737 MAX series of airplanes and hid the bad news, all while encouraging plan participants to invest in company stock though the VIP Stock Fund. When the planes dove out of the sky, the stock price dropped, too. Although it hardly compares to the terrible and tragic loss of life, plan participants were also injured when their retirement savings vanished.

Newark, NJ On January 25, participants in the Johnson and Johnson Savings Plan (the “401k Plan”), filed a class action ERISA lawsuit claiming that the 401k Plan fiduciaries encouraged them to invest imprudently in company stock. The lawsuit, Tarantino v. Johnson and Johnson Pension and Benefits Committee , claims that the value of the stock was inflated because J&J hid the possibility that Baby Powder, its signature product, was contaminated with asbestos. The company allegedly held on to the secret for decades.

Boston, MA On February 21, 2019, Andre W. Wong, a participant in T-Mobile USA Inc.'s 401(k) plan, filed a class action ERISA lawsuit in Massachusetts District Court. The lawsuit may ultimately affect nearly every 401k plan participant in every plan that has offered investment options managed by Fidelity Investments since 2017. Wong v. FMR LLC lays out a complicated pay-to-play scheme (disarmingly and perhaps deceptively described in internal documents as “supermarket fees”).