Partner Mark Boyko Quoted in Bloomberg Law About Federal Court Appellate Ruling

BG ERISA litigator Mark Boyko is quoted in a Bloomberg Law article (“Parker-Hannifin Suit Revival Hints at Lower 401(k) Challenge Bar”) related to a recent worker-friendly appellate decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The decision (note: Bailey Glasser is not counsel in this case) requires Parker-Hannifin, a Cleveland-based company, to defend claims that it mismanaged its 32,000-person 401(k) plan when it retained unproven and underperforming target date funds from Northern Trust. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found in a 2-1 split decision that Parker-Hannifin workers have viable ERISA claims because they plausibly alleged that the Northern Trust Focus Funds had high investor turnover and underperformed a target date fund index from S&P Global.

The decision marks the latest word on the “meaningful benchmark” standard that several courts, including the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Tenth circuits, have used to assess whether retirement investors have identified a better alternative that’s sufficiently similar to the fund or fee structure they challenge.

In the Bloomberg article, Mr. Boyko states that an overly restrictive interpretation of the “meaningful benchmark” standard creates “huge obstacles for workers challenging actively managed funds or target date funds with distinct characteristics.”

To read the full article (subscription necessary) click this link.

To learn more about Mr. Boyko’s practice where he protects workers’ and retirees’ hard-earned money, please visit his firm bio here.

To learn more about BG’s nationally-ranked ERISA practice, please visit our ERISA Practice Group webpage.