Participants in a $1 billion 401(k) plan sponsored by Cintas Corp., Cincinnati, have filed a class-action lawsuit against the firm and other related parties for allegedly mismanaging the plan and violating ERISA.
In the complaint, filed Dec. 13 in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, lead plaintiffs Raymond Hawkins and Robin Lung allege that from Dec. 13, 2013, to the present, Cintas has failed to properly review the cost of the plan's investment options and maintained certain funds within the plan despite other investment options with lower costs and better performance histories being available.
"To make matters worse, defendants failed to utilize the lowest cost share class for many of the mutual funds within the plan, and failed to consider collective trusts, commingled accounts, or separate accounts as alternatives to the mutual funds in the plan, despite their lower fees," the complaint alleges.
Cintas spokeswoman Michelle Goret said in an email: “Cintas has no comment on this pending litigation beyond the fact that we believe it has no merit and will defend ourselves vigorously in court.”
The plaintiffs are seeking $200 million in damages and demanding a jury trial.
