Home Depot class action over retirement mismanagement dismissed

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Update:

• A federal judge tossed out a class action lawsuit accusing Home Depot of mismanaging its employees’ retirement savings by making bad investments.  
• U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg also rejected a recusal bid made by a class of more than 300,000 current and former Home Depot employees. 
• The current and former employees claimed that Home Depot made unwise investments that cost them money from their retirement plans. 
• Judge Grimberg disagreed, ruling that there was no evidence to show that the actions of Home Depot caused the retirement plans to lose money. 
• Employees had also argued that Judge Grimberg should recuse himself to avoid the appearance of bias due to him previously holding a position on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s technology litigation committee. 
• The judge, in declining, called his role on the committee “passive.” 

Home Depot retirement savings class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked a Georgia court for permission to file an amicus brief in support of Home Depot in its fight against a class action lawsuit lobbied at the company by workers who claim it mismanaged their retirement savings. 
• Why: The chamber says it has a vested interest in the claims against Home Depot, which it argues are based on an overly expansive view of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Georgia federal court. 

(Dec. 27, 2021)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sided with Home Depot Inc. in the company’s fight against a class action lawsuit claiming it mismanaged retirement savings for hundreds of thousands of current and former employees. 

Workers claim in a 2018 class action lawsuit that Home Depot violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by offering holders of its multibillion dollar 401(k) plan investment options that did not perform well and high-cost advisory services. 

The chamber, meanwhile, has asked a Georgia court for its permission to file an amicus brief in support of the home improvement company. 

In its motion, the chamber said it has a “particular interest” in ensuring “ERISA fiduciary breach claims are evaluated under a rubric that properly preserves the flexibility of the statutory prudence standard.”

Further, the chamber asserts workers had simply made “a claim of imprudence that rests on nothing more than criticism of the outcome of the fiduciary process.” 

Claims Based on Overly Expansive View Of ERISA, Chamber Argues

The chamber also argues the claims against Home Depot are based on an overly expansive view of ERISA that has led to a string of similar complaints against 401(k) managers. 

“If simply presenting evidence of a reasonable alternative path were enough to create a material factual dispute with respect to prudence, essentially every defined contribution plan could be required to go to trial to defend its fiduciary processes,” the chamber said.

A pair of investment firms that helped Home Depot manage the at-that-time roughly 9 billion retirement plans were let off of the class action lawsuit back in 2019, Law360 reports. 

A separate class action lawsuit was filed against Home Depot earlier this year over allegations the company sent advertising calls and texts to consumers who had attempted to opt out. 

Do you believe Home Depot mismanaged your retirement savings? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by David Tracey, Kevin Sharp, Leigh Anne St. Charles, Sean Ouellette and Charles Field of Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP; T. Brandon Welch of Stillman Welch LLC; and Norman Blumenthal of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP.

The Home Depot Retirement Savings Class Action Lawsuit is Pizzaro, et al. v. The Home Depot Inc., et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01566, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

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