Participants in Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc.'s 401(k) plan are arguing in a class-action ERISA lawsuit that the bottling company and related parties have breached their fiduciary duties in managing its $784 million plan.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 24 in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., by plan participants Cheyenne Jones and Sara J. Gast, claims that participants were not notified of the plan's expenses and the risks of its investment options, according to court documents. The defendants also "allowed unreasonable expenses to be charged to participants," and selected and retained high-cost and poor performing investment options when there were more prudent alternative investments available, the documents said.
According to the suit, the actions of the defendants ultimately cost plan participants "millions of dollars of retirement savings."
Coca-Cola Consolidated is one of the largest independent Coca-Cola bottlers in the U.S.
Kimberly Kuo, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Consolidated, and Jeremy R. Williams, an attorney with the law firm Whitfield Bryson LLP and counsel for the plaintiffs, could not be reached for comment.
