ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, a leading national law firm based in St. Louis, today filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of over 50,000 employees in the Insperity 401(k) Plan.
The complaint, Pledger, et al., v. Reliance Trust Company, et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
The complaint alleges that Insperity breached its fiduciary duties by causing the Plan participants to pay millions of dollars in excessive recordkeeping fees to Insperity’s proprietary subsidiary, Insperity Retirement Services. In addition, the complaint alleges breaches of fiduciary duties against the plan’s discretionary trustee, Reliance Trust, concerning its imprudent investment decisions, including the decision to offer its own proprietary investments. These alleged breaches substantially reduced the retirement assets of the Plan participants. The excessive investment management and recordkeeping fees, as well as the performance losses from investing in overly expensive funds, cost participants millions of dollars of their retirement savings.
“We allege that Insperity and Reliance Trust have breached their fiduciary duties under the law, duties that exist for the protection of the employees and retirees,” Jerry Schlichter of Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, the attorney for the plaintiffs stated. “The employees and retirees, who lost money from their retirement savings because of the mismanagement of their plan, are entitled to justice.”
Insperity is a for-profit company that serves as a professional employer organization which provides human resources and business solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses throughout the United States. The employees of those businesses are enrolled in the Insperity 401(k) Plan.
The four named plaintiffs were all participants and beneficiaries in the Insperity 401(k) Plan, through their employers, who contracted with Insperity.
The complaint also states that the Insperity 401(k) Plan failed to engage in a proper process for the selection and retention of a plan recordkeeper. Insperity, rather than soliciting competitive bids from outside recordkeepers, chose Insperity Retirement Services, a subsidiary of Insperity Inc., allowing Insperity Retirement Services to receive excessive recordkeeping fees.
The complaint also alleges that Insperity and Reliance Trust chose mutual funds and collective trusts with high expenses and poor performance, excluding lower-cost share classes of the identical mutual fund investments.
The complaint also accuses Insperity Holdings, Inc. of breaching its fiduciary duties by failing to adequately monitor its appointee, Reliance Trust. As a consequence of this breach, the Plan suffered substantial losses, through excessive fees and underperforming investments.
The Insperity 401(k) Plan, as of December 31, 2014, had over $2 billion in total assets, which places it in the top 0.08% of the over 621,000 401(k) plans offered in the United States, according to Bright Scope.
If you are a participant in the Insperity 401(k) Plan and wish to participate in this lawsuit, please contact Schlichter, Bogard & Denton at (800) 873-5297 or via email at investigations@uselaws.com.
Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, based in St. Louis, MO, pioneered defined contribution 401(k) litigation against corporate plan sponsors as it has sought to recover excessive fees charged to plan participants and to seek remedies for a range of other breaches of ERISA. Since 2006, the firm has filed 18 such complaints and secured 9 settlements on behalf of employees securing over $271.5 million for plaintiffs and major changes in 401(k) plans. The firm won the only full trial of a 401(k) excessive fee case involving the employees of ABB. Earlier this year, the firm also won a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court in favor of employees and retirees in the Edison International 401(k) plan. This is the only 401(k) excessive fee case taken by the Supreme Court.
Numerous commentators and courts have noted Schlichter, Bogard & Denton’s work has caused greater transparency into fees and caused 401(k) fees to be lowered throughout the country.
About Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, LLP
Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, LLP, of St. Louis is a national law firm that represents individuals, including victims of financial abuse and 401(k) plan investors, whose plans suffer from excessive fees or imprudent investment options. Its attorneys are dedicated to helping financial abuse victims, and helping employees and retirees secure the retirement benefits they deserve.
More information can be found at: www.uselaws.com or call (800) 873-5297.
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