Category: ERISA

Qualcomm designed a 401(k) plan for employees that allowed Qualcomm to use forfeitures to reduce employer contributions or apply to plan administrative expenses.  Qualcomm chose the former. After Qualcomm elected to apply forfeited contributions to reduce employer contributions, a group of plan participants challenged that action in federal court, alleging that Qualcomm had a fiduciary duty to use the forfeited contributions to lower the...

On March 15, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule.  The Fiduciary Rule (which is actually seven different rules promulgated by the Department of Labor) imposed heightened standards on retirement investment advisors, and expanded the definition of fiduciary under ERISA.  The Rule went into effect on June 9, 2017, with a transition period until January 1, 2018. After...

A federal court in Maryland has partially dismissed a complaint filed on behalf of nearly 40 Spanish-speaking current and former employees of Hatfield’s Equipment & Dedication Services Inc.  (“Hatfield’s”).  The plaintiffs, who worked as part of a concrete crew, alleged that Hatfield’s did not comply with the reporting and disclosure requirements for the company’s profit sharing plan, because plan documents and benefit statements...