(updated with correction)
A class-action lawsuit brought by employees of Lockheed Martin Corp. can proceed to trial now that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the company's appeal on Monday.
Abbott vs. Lockheed Martin Corp., filed in 2006 and now representing more than 100,000 employees and retirees, questioned the fees and investments of Lockheed Martin's 401(k) plan. The case will return to the U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Ill.
A spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin, who declined to be identified, said company officials are disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision, “and we remain committed to defending against this lawsuit at all stages of the litigation.”
Jerome Schlichter, the founding partner of the plaintiffs' law firm Schlichter, Bogard & Denton in St. Louis, said in an interview that “this will be the second case in the history of excessive fee cases to go to full trial.” He said the trial will focus on the plan's stable value fund, which was largely in money-market instruments.
