Starting March 17, 2025, the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (“VFCP”) will have a “self-correction” option. Although the new option eliminates the need to wait for formal approval of a correction submission, participating fiduciaries will still need to satisfy a notice requirement and submit information to the Department of Labor. The applicable
Fiduciary
Sixth Circuit Again Invalidates ERISA Plan Arbitration Clause
By Joseph Clark & Jessica Wang on
The Sixth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s dismissal, and order requiring arbitration of, a proposed class action alleging fiduciary breaches in connection with the Kellogg Company 401(k) plan. Fleming v. Kellogg Co., 2024 WL 4534677 (6th Cir. Oct. 21, 2024). In so ruling, the Sixth Circuit added to the list of recent decisions…
Massachusetts District Court Permits 403(b) Plan Fiduciary Breach Claims to Proceed
By Joseph Clark & Jessica Wang on
A federal district court in Massachusetts recently denied a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by plan participants in the Cape Cod Healthcare, Inc. 403(b) plan, which alleged that the plan’s fiduciaries breached their ERISA duty of prudence by permitting the plan to pay excessive recordkeeping fees and remain invested in overpriced, underperforming investment options.
District Court Dismisses Challenge to Use of Plan Forfeitures
By Joseph Clark & Jessica Wang on
A federal district court recently granted a motion to dismiss claims that defined contribution plan fiduciaries breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence, and violated ERISA’s anti-inurement and prohibited transaction rules, by using forfeited funds to satisfy a portion of the employer’s matching contribution obligations where the plan also permitted using such forfeitures to…