Just a Minute! Retirement Plan Litigation Activity

February 7, 2025

Workplace retirement plans continue to be the focus of a wave of frivolous federal class-action lawsuits alleging breaches of fiduciary duty under ERISA, prompting the American Benefits Council to take action in several prominent cases.

The common thread in many of these cases is the courts’ apparent reluctance to enforce strict “pleading standards” for plaintiffs. A new paper being circulated by the Council explains how the legal system is being used to benefit plaintiffs’ lawyers at the expense of broader retirement security and proposes that courts and the executive branch follow and enforce existing law with respect to pleading standards.

In the latest edition of Just a Minute!, Council President Katy Johnson describes the multiple fronts on which these legal battles are being waged and explains how our amicus brief program is stepping up in defense of plan sponsors.