Posted February 26th, 2020.
Today the Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, handed a victory to employees who invest their retirement savings in company 401(k) plans. Employees seeking to hold employers accountable for wrongdoing in managing their retirement plan must bring a claim within 3 years of having actual knowledge of the wrongdoing or, absent actual knowledge, no later than 6 years from when the wrongdoing occurred. Intel Corporation had sought to hold its employees to the shorter 3- year period because Intel plan had made information about the plan available to employees. The Court disagreed and ruled the longer period applied, holding that employees do not necessarily have actual knowledge of mismanagement simply because the plan discloses certain information to them. Given how bewildering these plan disclosures can be, this is a significant win for employees.
Congratulations to Sanford Heisler Sharp and its team of lawyers Paul Blankenstein, Charles Field, Veronica Saltzman and Rob Van Someren Greve for collaborating with AARP in filing an Amicus Curiae Brief in support of employees.