Emory University Retirement Plan Class Action Lawsuit Gets Class Cert.

A group of retirement plan participants convinced a federal judge to certify their proposed Class in a lawsuit accusing Emory University of violating the Employee Retirement Security Income Act due to excessive retirement plan fees and poor investment options.

The plaintiffs sought to represent those who participated in the Emory University Retirement Plan and the Emory Healthcare Inc. Retirement Savings and Matching Plan.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. agreed to certify the proposed Class, tossing Emory University’s arguments that the plaintiffs, who only participated in 36 of the 111 investments offered, could not adequately represent the Class.

The university was also unable to sway the judge that the plaintiffs in the Emory ERISA class action lawsuit did not suffer an injury according to their depositions.

“At most, the plaintiffs’ depositions demonstrate that they might not fully grasp the complex factual and legal issues involved in the case — which ‘is understandable,’” noted the judge in the order certifying the proposed Class in the Emory University class action lawsuit.

Similarly, the judge disagreed with Emory’s argument that the plaintiffs must understand their claims under ERISA to properly represent the proposed Class.

“Although the defendants criticize the plaintiffs’ ability to explain the allegations of the law suit, the plaintiffs’ claims are not simply stated,” pointed out the judge in his order certifying the proposed Class in the Emory ERISA class action lawsuit. “ERISA itself represents a highly dense regulation, and claims arising from it are equally complex.”

The newly certified Class in the Emory University class action lawsuit includes all plan participants and beneficiaries in Emory University retirement plans, as well as the retirement savings plan offered to Emory Healthcare employees.

Class Members include those who participated in the plans starting August 2010.

“As of December 31, 2015, the Plans had at least 45,000 total participants—around 22,000 in the Retirement Plan and 23,000 in the Healthcare Plan. Each Plan also had at least 10,000 participants since the beginning of the proposed class period (August 11, 2010),” notes the order in the Emory ERISA class action lawsuit.

According to the Emory retirement plan class action lawsuit, the university breached its fiduciary duties to plan participants and beneficiaries when it allowed excessive fees to be charged.

The plaintiffs also contend that, of the 111 investment fund options, there are poorly performing, expensive options that should not have been offered.

The plaintiffs and proposed Class Members are represented by Jerome J. Schlichter, Andrew D. Schlichter, Kurt C. Struckhoff, Alex Braitberg and Ethan D. Hatch of Schlichter Bogard & Denton LLP and Bradley S. Wolff of Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers LLP.

The Emory University Retirement Plan ERISA Class Action Lawsuit is Henderson, et al. v. Emory University, et al., Case No. 1:16­-cv-­02920, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.