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
401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Breached ERISA’s Duty of Loyalty By Allowing ESG Interests To Influence Management Of The Plan
By Russell Hirschhorn, Seth Safra, Adam Scoll & Sydney Juliano on
Last week, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, issued the first-of-its-kind ruling on the merits pertaining to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investing in ERISA-covered retirement plans. In his 70-page Opinion, Judge O’Connor concluded that the plan fiduciaries of American Airlines’ (the “Plan Sponsor’s”) 401(k) plans…
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…