A federal judge in Seattle has again rejected a request by Milliman to throw out an ERISA lawsuit against the company and its fiduciaries by a 401(k) plan participant.
The latest setback was U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly's March 6 order denying reconsideration of a previous ruling against the defendants in the case of Joanna P. Mattson vs. Milliman Inc. et al.
The defendants had asked for reconsideration, citing a pro-defendant decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, New York, because the Feb. 14 decision in that case, Falberg vs. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. et al., addressed similar issues as in the Milliman complaint.
Zilly had denied the defendants motion for summary judgment on Feb. 8.
The Seattle court is in the 9th U.S. Circuit. The New York appeals court ruling "does not eliminate the genuine issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment in this case," Zilly wrote.
A motion for summary judgment is usually filed after the parties have completed discovery, giving a judge the opportunity to review details of a case. A motion to dismiss, usually requested soon after a complaint is filed, argues that the plaintiff has failed to state a claim.
The original complaint against the Milliman defendants was filed in January 2022, alleging ERISA violations because the plan offered a target-risk series with a brief track record and poor performance. Zilly dismissed the lawsuit in June 2022, but allowed the plaintiff to file an amended complaint. The new complaint provided sufficient information for Zilly, who denied the defendants' motion to dismiss in December 2022.
The Milliman Inc. Profit Sharing and Retirement Plan, Seattle, had $1.6 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to the latest Form 5500.
