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Yet Another Excessive Fee Lawsuit is Settled
Last Updated: June 28, 2016
In 2013 MassMutual was sued by a class of over 14,000 participants of its own 401(k) plan for charging the Plan excessive fees for record keeping services, among other things. The case was filed by the St. Louis based law firm Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, and was recently settled for $30.9 million[1].
In addition to the cash settlement, MassMutual agreed to a number of changes to the fees they charge the plan, including a $35 per head cap on record keeping fees and a fee that is not based on a percentage of plan assets.
This is the most recent in a growing list of retirement plan excessive fee lawsuits that have been settled over the past several years. Based on the large settlements that plaintiffs lawyers have been able to achieve, it is safe to assume that these types of cases will become more and more common, and that even small plans will start to face the specter of lawsuits. We recently wrote about an excessive fee lawsuit filed against a $9 million plan.
If you are concerned about your fiduciary liability, or for help monitoring your retirement plan’s fees, contact our ERISA Services team today.
