Former plan participants in the Credit Union Retirement Plan Association (CURPA) multi-employer 401(k) plan have reached a deal to settle an ERISA suit over excessive fees. The case is Lucero, Brenda et al. v. Credit Union Retirement Plan Association et al., case number 3:22-cv-00208, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
CURPA, a Wisconsin-based professional employer organization, provides services to credit unions, such as payroll, employee benefits, and other employee management tasks. One of those benefits is a multi-employer 401(k) plan with more than 20,000 participants with account balances at the end of 2020, as per the U.S. Department of Labor.
The federal district court judge has given the parties until August 2, 2024, to file a motion for preliminary settlement approval. He asked them to explain why he should approve a classwide settlement. Although class treatment is typically appropriate in ERISA excessive fee suits, the judge declined to certify a class in January because three of the four named plaintiffs were charged fees that the proposed class admitted were reasonable. Instead of the plan charging a set fee for all plan participants, each employer negotiated a separate fee with the plan.
The plan participants argued that the fee differences, which ranged from $10.01 to $471.53, should not matter because they sought relief not individually but as a whole plan. However, the judge rejected this argument based on Seventh Circuit precedent, in that a class may not consist of both harmed and unharmed individuals.
Nonetheless, the judge denied CURPA’s motion to dismiss the suit in March 2023. He ruled that the plaintiffs had produced enough evidence to support their claim.
The four named plaintiffs filed suit against CURPA in April 2022. They alleged that CURPA acted imprudently, violating ERISA, by failing to properly oversee and control costs, fees, and investment options.
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