Tag: retirement plan litigation

The settlement agreement calls for a gross monetary payment of $10.65 million to a settlement fund and other non-monetary actions by Duke University.

The colorfully worded opinion chides plaintiffs for failing to acknowledge the unique character of 403(b) retirement plans—including their common use of annuities and multiple recordkeepers.

The complaint argues defendants violated ERISA duties by reinterpreting plan language in a conflicted manner aimed at reducing employer costs.

In a case that alleges, among other things, that defendants breached their ERISA duties by offering a money market fund rather than a stable value fund as a capital preservation option, plaintiffs say the 9th Circuit imposed strict pleading standards that conflict with its own decisions as well as those of other circuits.

The lawsuit claims the Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS) lost money on more than $1.5 billion in hedge fund investments in recent years, although its own advisers privately urged it to stay away from the risky investments.

MetLife has been accused of failing to take sufficient measures to locate annuitants, declaring them dead and transferring the assets for their benefits to the firm.

Cases have been filed against MetLife, Pepsi and American Airlines saying the use of outdated mortality tables in determining annuity payments causes retirees to lose part of their vested retirement benefits.

A university spokesperson told Yale News that the changes to the retirement plan were not in response to ongoing litigation.

The case against the $500 million 401(k) plan was also settled for a “small” amount—$500,000.

After a complex set of motions and rulings, the parties have now opted to settle the ERISA self-dealing lawsuit rather than proceed to the full trial.

A newly filed complaint takes issue with the way MetLife calculates the actuarial equivalence of different types of annuity benefit options available in the firm’s pension plan.

Details of the settlement agreement are forthcoming.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the facts alleged are insufficient to support a plausible inference of breach of the duty of loyalty, breach of the duty of prudence, or that a prohibited transaction took place.

The docket reports for two lawsuits filed against the university say counsel for the plaintiffs and counsel for the university have reported the cases settled.

The long-running litigation appears to be heading for a mediated conclusion, after a contentious discovery process that produced over 260,000 pages of documents and more than 20 depositions.

According to the docket report for the case, the parties report they have resolved the case.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously concluded that the challenge to the management of the University of Southern California’s retirement plans fell outside the scope of the arbitration agreements because the claims were brought on behalf of the plans, not the individuals.

Willis Towers Watson offers nine actions for DC plan sponsors to mitigate risks in 2019.

The lawsuit accused Matrix Trust Company of violating its fiduciary duties by making unauthorized transfers of participants’ accounts to a bank account maintained by Vantage Benefits Administrators.