Former employees of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, Lebanon, N.H., sued the health care provider and fiduciaries of two retirement plans, alleging that high investment management fees and record-keeping fees as well as poor performance of some investments violate their ERISA duties.
"Defendants did not adhere to fiduciary best practices to control the plans' costs," said the complaint filed March 18 in U.S. District Court in Concord, N.H.
The plaintiffs accused the fiduciaries of the clinic's 401(a) plan and 403(b) plan of "failing to objectively and adequately review the plans' investment portfolios" with respect to cost.
The former employees are seeking class-action status covering the period that started March 18, 2016.
"Because the plans paid yearly amounts of record-keeping fees that were well above industry standard over the class period, there is little to suggest that defendants conducted an appropriate RFP at reasonable interviews," said the complaint in the case of Adams et al. vs. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic et al.
"We don't comment on pending litigation," Audra Burns, a spokeswoman, wrote in an email.
The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Retirement Plan, a 401(a) plan, and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Employee Investment Plan, a 403(b) plan, had combined assets of $1.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020, according to the lawsuit.
