BAE Systems Inc. has won a class action lawsuit about misusing 401(k) plan forfeitures.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, granted BAE’s motion to dismiss the complaint by a current employee and plan participant seeking class-action status in Naylor v. BAE Systems. The BAE Systems Employees’ Retirement Plan had assets of $4.15 billion and 29,887 participants.
Trenga granted BAE’s motion to dismiss the case. The plaintiff claimed that BAE had used $9.7 million in forfeitures from 2016 to 2022 to reduce employer contributions. Trenga pointed to the plan document’s language on plan forfeitures, which allowed the use of forfeitures to reduce employer matching contributions. While BAE could have chosen to use the funds for administrative expenses, Trenga said they didn’t have to.
It’s an interesting ruling because it seemed based solely on plan language detailing how the forfeitures would be used, rather than the actions of the fiduciaries themselves.
