Health system reaches settlement in 401(k) fiduciary breach suit
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CHS/Community Health Systems Inc., Franklin, Tenn., reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit alleging the company breached its fiduciary duties in the investment management of its 401(k) plan.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville in August 2019 by three 401(k) plan participants, alleged that CHS breached its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by offering excessively expensive and poorly performing index funds in the plan that were managed by Principal, according to the original court filing.
The lawsuit said Principal, the plan s record keeper, had a conflict of interest in offering its proprietary index funds despite fees that were several times higher than marketplace alternatives that tracked the exact same index. The suit also said the Principal index funds deviated further from the benchmark index so performance was worse than fu