Details Reported on Boeing 401(k) Fee Suit

October 6, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A law firm has filed suit in federal court against Boeing Co., charging that the company failed to adequately monitor and disclose revenue-sharing fees to participants in its 401(k) plan.

Business Insurance reports that the suit alleges Boeing breached its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by ignoring payments that 401(k) managers made to recordkeepers and other service providers and by failing to disclose the fees to plan participants.

Additionally, the suit claims Boeing charged excessive management fees for the employer stock fund investment option in the plan and held too much of the stock fund's assets in cash, reducing participants' returns, attorney Jerome Schlichter said, according to Business Insurance.

The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed by St. Louis-based law firm Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, which has filed comparable cases against eight other major companies (See Lawyer: Excessive Fee Suits Not an Organized Anti-Plan Campaign ).

Schlichter said in the news report that the allegations in each lawsuit are unique to that particular company and should not be used to make assumptions about allegations against other defendants.

Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com