Retirement & Benefits

This emerging trend demonstrates forfeiture cases are no longer nuisance lawsuits. Top law firm Schlichter Bogard, which has been representing many plaintiffs in recent 401(k) excessive fee lawsuits, is representing the telecommunications company’s plaintiffs.

The lawsuit, like many 401(k) lawsuits filed by employees over the past year, challenged HP’s decision to use “forfeitures” to reduce employer contributions rather than to pay administrative costs.

About 70% of the 401(k) plan—nearly $2 billion—was invested in one fund, when “much cheaper” versions of this investment were available, allege employees in the class-action lawsuit.

The class-action lawsuit, filed on behalf of 60,000 plan participants, alleges that the airline failed to replace a “chronically underperforming” large-cap fund holding more than $2 billion in retirement plan assets.

The ERISA Industry Committee, along with two other industry groups, is seeking the dismissal of the drugmaker’s PRT class-action lawsuit over the transfer of its pension plan to Athene Annuity, alleging a breach of fiduciary duties.

The banking giant has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging it used retirement plan contributions from departing employees to “offset its employer contributions” rather than reducing plan administrative fees, violating ERISA.

A federal judge has dismissed—for the second time—a lawsuit against Bechtel Global that alleged the $5.7 billion plan’s default managed account investment led to excessive fees and subpar returns, arguing that a target-date fund would have been a better alternative.

A federal judge in Texas ruled that the company violated its ERISA duties by not focusing “on the best financial benefit” for its 401(k) plan—the biggest victory yet in a case involving ESG investing.