ICON Clinical Research Faces Common ERISA Claims
One feature the new complaint has in common with suits filed previously by Capozzi Adler is its reliance on comparing the plan’s expenses for investments and administration services with a group of alleged peers.
A new Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania levels various fiduciary breach claims against ICON Clinical Research, a provider of outsourced development and commercialization services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries.
The text of the new complaint closely resembles others from the increasingly well-known law firm Capozzi Adler, which has filed numerous ERISA excessive fee lawsuits in the past several years. In other words, the complaint says the defendants have failed to objectively and adequately review the plan’s investment portfolio with due care to ensure that each investment option was pruden
USI Insurance Latest to Face ERISA Self-Dealing Complaint
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Defending Against Excessive Fee Cases: It’s All About Procedure
It’s crucial for plan sponsors to have and follow a good investment policy statement and to carefully document the reasons for all their decisions.
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There has been a surge of excessive fee lawsuits filed against plan sponsors in recent years. But there are strategies retirement plan sponsors and their attorneys can take to defend themselves, Carol Buckmann, ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] attorney and founding partner of Cohen & Buckmann, tells PLANSPONSOR.
“Even if a trial progresses, there are a lot of effective arguments that fiduciaries can make,” Buckmann says. “Most importantly, it is critical for them to show that they followed a prudent process in making their decision. Courts are not going to view their decisions with 20/20 hindsight. Rather, the courts want to see that based on the information that the fiduciaries had at the time they made their decision, they followed a
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Auto Parts Co. Wants $1B ERISA Suit Axed After Colo. Ruling
Law360 (January 21, 2021, 2:16 PM EST) A Michigan federal judge should follow a Colorado court s lead and toss a proposed 401(k) class action against Magna after the auto parts supplier s employees accused it of including too-expensive investment options into their $1 billion retirement plan, the company said.
In a brief Wednesday supporting its August motion to dismiss, Magna International of America Inc. pointed to a Jan. 6 decision from the Colorado district court that addressed a similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act case.
In Kurtz v. Vail Corp., a Colorado judge found that a plaintiff hadn t plausibly alleged imprudence on the part of their retirement plan and.
Federal judge dismisses ERISA suit against Vail Corp.
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A U.S. District Court judge in Durango, Colo., dismissed a complaint against The Vail Corp. by a former participant in the company s 401(k) plan who alleged ERISA violations by failing to exercise a duty of loyalty to participants and a duty of prudence in managing the plan. Plaintiff puts forth no facts suggesting that any of the defendant s action were for the purpose of benefiting itself, wrote U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson in a Jan. 6 opinion rejecting the duty-of-loyalty claim.
The plaintiff s allegations fall short of a valid claim for breach of duty of prudence, the judge wrote in rejecting arguments that fees were too high, fund choices were too expensive and the fund lineup should have emphasized cheaper index funds vs. more expensive actively managed funds.
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