A federal judge in Green Bay, Wis., dismissed an ERISA complaint against Oshkosh Corp. and its 401(k) plan's fiduciaries by a former participant who alleged the plan charged "unreasonably high fees" and kept poor-performing investment options.
The participant filed nine allegations in his June 2020 complaint seeking class-action status. U.S. District Court Judge William C. Griesbach rejected all of them in his Sept. 2 ruling in Andrew Albert vs. Oshkosh Corp. et al.
For example, when considering the allegation of excessive record-keeping fees, Mr. Griesbach wrote: "The mere existence of purportedly lower fees paid by other plans says nothing about the reasonableness of the plan's fee, and it does not make it plausible that another recordkeeper would have offered to provide the plan with services at a lower cost."
Because the plaintiff failed to make "plausible allegations about defendants' process, the court cannot infer imprudence merely because the plan's recordkeeping fees were at the amounts alleged," the judge added.
Noting that ERISA doesn't require fiduciaries to offer the cheapest fund in an asset category, "the fact that the plan offered certain actively managed options does not establish that defendants acted imprudently," Mr. Griesbach wrote.
The judge also rejected Mr. Albert's claim that the fiduciaries should have chosen cheaper share classes for some mutual funds.
The plaintiff "maintains that there is no difference between the share classes other than cost," Mr. Griesbach wrote. "Plaintiff's preference for different share classes of certain investments is not enough to state a plausible claim for breach of fiduciary duty."
Oshkosh Corp. and Affiliates Tax Deferred Investment Plan, Oshkosh, Wis., had $1.4 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2019, according to the latest Form 5500.
