A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit by former employees of the industrial conglomerate Marmon Holdings, who accused the company and its fiduciaries of violating ERISA by mismanaging the company 401(k) plan.
The seven plaintiffs sued in August 2022 alleging plan executives allowed excessive record-keeping and administrative fees and offered poor-performing investment options.
District Judge John Robert Blakey dismissed all allegations Sept. 22 in Lard et al. vs. Marmon Holdings Inc. et al. He added that the plaintiffs could amend their complaint within 21 days.
Citing several "deficiencies" in their claims about fees, Blakey wrote that "plaintiffs' allegations fail to show that the plan's recordkeeping fees were excessive for the types and quality of services offered."
As for the investment-returns allegation, the judge wrote that the plaintiffs failed to provide a "meaningful benchmark" to evaluate the plan's investment performance.
As of Dec. 31, 2021, Marmon Employees' Retirement Plan, Chicago, had $1.3 billion in assets, according to its latest Form 5500.
