I wrote last month about the damages assessed against the plan sponsor, Edison International, in the renowned Tibble case. If the $7.5 million awarded to the plan participant plaintiffs wasn’t enough, the district court judge in the case tacked on another $5.6 million in damages. (This article offers a good…
Tibble v. Edison International was a ground-breaking case in the retirement planning and benefits industry, being the first and (so far) only excessive fee lawsuit to reach the highest court of the U.S. The Supreme Court’s decision in 2015 was unanimous in favor of the plaintiffs, the participants in Edison…
The potential for an audit is a fact of life for retirement plan sponsors. Audits can be conducted by either the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Department of Labor (DOL). They can’t really be avoided—but you can prepare in advance for an audit. Incorporating a process of prudence…
Help Participants Live Happily Ever After—Follow Your IPS. What good is an investment policy statement (IPS) if the plan sponsor doesn’t follow it? That question is at the center of a class action lawsuit filed against the fiduciaries of The Walt Disney Company’s defined benefit and deferred compensation plans for employees,…
A Request for Proposal (RFP) does more than help a plan sponsor select service providers for different aspects of their plan. RFPs also help meet the requirements under ERISA §404(a)(1), to act in the best interests of the plan participants and to document the methodology used to establish a process…