Eaton Vance ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Class Action

Case name: Price, et al. v. Eaton Vance Corp., et al. 

Case type: Financial Services Litigation
Filed in: [U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts]
Docket: [Case no. 18CV12098] 

Case Summary

In October 2018, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight filed a class action lawsuit against the Eaton Vance Corp. on behalf of participants in the Eaton Vance Profit Sharing and Savings Plan (the “Plan”) for breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). 

The Complaint alleged that Eaton Vance, an investment management and advisory firm, used Plaintiffs’ 401(k) retirement plan worth $434 million as a test laboratory and vehicle for self-gain. The Complaint alleged that Eaton Vance, instead of making prudent investments for the Plan, filled it with expensive, poorly performing Eaton Vance proprietary funds that earned high management fees for the company but cost employees millions of dollars in retirement savings. 

In May 2019, the parties agreed to a settlement of $3.45 million to be distributed among approximately 2,900 current and former Plan participants.