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Retirement Plan › 401k › Excessive Fees

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Humana wins 401(k) excess fee case

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A federal judge in Kentucky threw out a case against Humana Inc., claiming former employees had failed to provide sufficient evidence that the company charged excessive record-keeping fees and failed to adequately search for...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

California District Court Dismisses Conclusory ERISA “Fee” Complaint Unsupported by Facts

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A California federal court recently granted an employer win in an ERISA excessive fee case when it dismissed a proposed class action brought by an ex-employee of Schenker, Inc., a transportation logistics company. Partida v....more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Fifth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of 401(k) Fees Claims

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The Fifth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s dismissal of claims that the fiduciaries of a 401(k) plan breached the duty of prudence under ERISA by offering participants retail share classes instead of cheaper...more

Smith Gambrell Russell

Group Health Plan Fiduciaries May Now be a Target of Lawsuits for Excessive Fees

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History of 401(k) Plan Excessive Fee Cases. Once the Department of Labor’s participant fee disclosure rules for retirement plans became effective in 2012, the plaintiffs’ bar latched onto recordkeeping and investment fees...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Eighth Circuit’s “Meaningful Benchmark” Requirement for 401(k) “Excessive Fee” Lawsuits Continues to Generate Dismissals

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

On August 21, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota largely dismissed—for a second time—a putative ERISA class action challenging “excessive” fees and “poor” performance in a 401(k) plan. Fritton v....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

ERISA Fiduciary Breach Action Narrowly Hurdles Motion to Dismiss in Minnesota

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An ERISA action alleging breaches of fiduciary duty recently cleared the pleadings stage in Minnesota district court, narrowly avoiding a complete dismissal. See Schave v. CentraCare Health Sys., No. 22-cv-1555 (WMW/LIB),...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Nestle on verge of winning most of their case

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A U.S. District Court federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin mostly sided with Nestlé USA Inc by recommending the dismissal. of a class action lawsuit alleging fiduciary negligence and self-dealing in...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Circuit Courts of Appeal Uphold Dismissal of 401(k) Fee Challenges Post-Hughes

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Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hughes v. Northwestern University, courts around the country continue to articulate the pleading requirements for a breach of duty of prudence claim under the Employee Retirement...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

7th Circuit Ruling Sheds Light Into the post-Hughes 401(k) Litigation Era

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Since the Supreme Court’s January ruling in Hughes v. Northwestern University, circuit courts throughout the country have issued varying rulings regarding 401(k) fee litigation cases. These include the Ninth Circuit in Trader...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Low-Cost Index Funds in the Crosshairs of New 401(k) Lawsuits

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Since late July, at least 10 lawsuits have been filed against large 401(k) plan sponsors that offer certain BlackRock Inc. target-date funds (TDF) among their investment options. In an unexpected pivot away from the 401(k)...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Sixth Circuit Addresses Key Issues in Excessive Fee Lawsuits

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On June 21, 2022, the Sixth Circuit in Smith v. CommonSpirit Health unanimously affirmed the decision of the Eastern District of Kentucky dismissing with prejudice a putative class representative’s ERISA fiduciary breach...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

2 ERISA Rulings Highlight Need for Different Defense Tactics

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Albert Einstein is famously credited with saying, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." This adage comes to mind as defense counsel continue to resort to the same strategies for...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Ninth Circuit Revives Second Excessive Fee 401(k) Plan Litigation

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On Friday, for the second week in a row, the Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a 401(k) plan excessive fee litigation challenging the offering of retail share classes of mutual funds instead of cheaper institutional share...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

New York Federal District Court Dismisses 401(k) Fee Class Action

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A New York district court recently dismissed, without prejudice, a 401(k) plan participant’s putative class action complaint alleging breaches of fiduciary duty. The plaintiff alleged that the plan fiduciary-defendants...more

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Plan Sponsors on Alert After Recent Supreme Court Decision

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On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important decision affecting plan fiduciaries who select investment options available to participants in a self-directed employee retirement plan (such as a 401(k)...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

SCOTUS ERISA Fee Litigation Update: Hughes et al. v. Northwestern University

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On January 24, 2022, in a rare, unanimous 8-0 decision (Justice Barrett recused herself from the case), the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Supreme Court”) vacated a Seventh Circuit affirmation of the dismissal of...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Supreme Court Stresses Importance of Ongoing Monitoring of All ERISA Plan Investment Options

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In Hughes v. Northwestern University, current and former participants in Northwestern University's defined-contribution retirement plans filed litigation on behalf of the plans' participants asserting that the University, its...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

District Court Issues First Post-Northwestern University 401(k) “Fee” Decision

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Just this month, the Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in Northwestern University, the first time the Court has been called upon to examine a lawsuit alleging that a 401(k) plan’s investment and fees were...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Supreme Court Give Plaintiffs a Narrow Win in 401(k) Fee Case

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Since the first round of cases were filed in 2006, plaintiffs’ counsel have raised hundreds of lawsuits challenging the prudence of fees and investments in 401(k) plans. One of the critical issues in those cases is what needs...more

Burns & Levinson LLP

ERISA Fiduciary Prudence Does Not Necessarily Reflect Modern Portfolio Management - ERISA Prudence And Hughes V. Northwestern...

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in Hughes v. Northwestern University, in which the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals had rejected claims that the fiduciaries of two defined contribution retirement plans at...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

The Tide is High…Keep Holding On For More Retirement Plan Fee Litigation

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week in Hughes v. Northwestern University will do nothing to stem the rising tide of retirement plan fee litigation. But the ruling doesn’t mean fiduciary breach claims are more likely to...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

District Court Declines to Dismiss 401(k) Fee Litigation Case in First Decision Post-Hughes

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on

In the first decision since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hughes v. Northwestern Univ., No. 19-1401, 595 U.S. ___ (U.S. Jan. 24, 2022), a Georgia federal district court held in favor of plaintiffs and declined to dismiss...more

Miller Canfield

Important Reminder from the U.S. Supreme Court - Just Giving Plan Participants Options Is Not Enough to Satisfy the Duty of...

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KEY TAKEAWAYS - ..Plan fiduciaries have a duty of prudence to independently evaluate on an ongoing basis investments offered in a plan’s menu of options and remove any imprudent ones. ..Plan participants’ ultimate...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Says Retirement Plan Must Scrutinize Expenses Even if It Offers Lower-Fee Options

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In recent years, participants in 401(k) and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans have filed class action suits alleging that the plans contain overly expensive investment options. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

The Supreme Court Declines to Establish Pleading Standard for Defined Contribution Plan Excessive Fee Litigation

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To the disappointment of many in the ERISA community, the Supreme Court issued a six-page opinion on January 24th that declined to opine on most of the issues that were before the Court in Hughes v. Northwestern University,...more

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