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When you save for retirement, you are counting on your investments and benefits being there for you when you need them. You are certainly not counting on losing any money due to someone else’s misconduct. When that happens, you may be able to file a lawsuit against your employer or another plan participant under federal law. These are very hard-fought lawsuits that require the help of a pension dispute attorney who has experience in the area. Contact Investor Loss Center to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case and explain your legal options.
The Role of ERISA in Protecting Your Rights and Investments
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (also known as ERISA), passed in 1974, makes the manager of your retirement plan a fiduciary. Simply stated, by law, they owe you higher duties that they must follow. If they do not uphold their fiduciary duty, they could be liable to you in a lawsuit. Companies often have to pay considerable money to settle these claims.
There are two parts of fiduciary duty:
- The duty of care requires the fiduciary to exercise some form of due diligence before they make decisions. This duty is akin to not being negligent.
- The duty of loyalty mandates that the fiduciary place the principal’s interest ahead of their own. They should not engage in conflicts of interest that are not disclosed or permitted by the principal.
ERISA Lawsuits
When it comes to retirement plans, administrators must adhere to a certain minimum basic standard, or else they may face lawsuits. If you win your lawsuit, your employer or the plan administrator will be required to pay you.
There are numerous reasons why you may sue a plan administrator, including:
- You have been charged unreasonably high investment fees.
- Your investment options were not properly or adequately explained to you,
- The administrators allow poorly performing investment options to remain part of your plan.
- The administrator has failed to properly provide security for your account,
- They failed to exercise reasonable care in diligence and administering your plan.
Many ERISA lawsuits revolve around high fees. For example, your retirement plan may offer you the option to purchase mutual funds that could cost more than comparable investments that you would purchase in your own account. Alternatively, the administrator may be offering only high-cost funds, when there are less expensive investment choices available.
Employers and administrators take ERISA lawsuits extremely seriously. They understand they could owe tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in a large settlement. If your employer has failed you, chances are that they have failed other clients.
Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits
Your employer may offer you the chance to purchase company stock in your retirement account.
You may have a cause of action against your employer when the stock drops due to corporate misconduct. If your employer allows you to purchase corporate stock when there is material non-public information that they know and you do not, you may be able to sue them if this information causes you to lose money.
You may also file a lawsuit on behalf of the company when a director or management violates the fiduciary duty that they owe to the company. This type of lawsuit is known as a shareholder derivative lawsuit and is intended to recover money for the company from the directors and officers who were responsible for a loss.
Pension Disputes
401k plans are defined contribution plans. Pension plans are defined benefits where you would receive a certain amount per month in retirement from your employer.
Over 20% of Americans participate in pension plans through their job, and these plans are also governed by ERISA. If you have suffered losses in your pension due to a business or a trustee’s negligence, you may be able to file a lawsuit to get back some of your losses.
Examples of pension dispute lawsuits include:
- Being paid less than your promised benefit because of investment mismanagement
- Disputes over the terms of your pension because of ambiguous documentation or vague language in the plan documents
- Believing that you are eligible for a pension but your employer disagrees
- Being paid less than what you believe you should and having a dispute over how your pension was calculated
- Thinking you are eligible for early retirement under the terms of your plan but your employer disagrees
Why You Need an ERISA Lawsuit Attorney
Defendants will have expensive attorneys representing them in any ERISA lawsuit. Employers are often required to pay tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to end lawsuits, and they engage the best legal team possible to defend them.
When pursuing an ERISA lawsuit, your attorney needs to develop the case to put you in the strongest legal position to negotiate a settlement. Otherwise, your case would go to court, where a judge or jury would decide the matter. You need an attorney who is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s most illustrious and brightest law firms.
Contact Our Pension Disputes & 401k Fraud Lawyers Today
The attorneys at the Investor Loss Center fight for the rights of workers who have lost money due to pension or retirement plan misconduct. We understand the crucial importance that your case plays in your retirement plans. Our lawyers will do everything in their power to obtain the most complete financial recovery possible. You can schedule a free consultation to speak with one of our attorneys by sending us a message online or by calling us today at (803)-805-7546. You do not need to pay anything unless you win your case.