We’re pretty sure the Vatican is next on his list.
In somewhat of a shift in strategy, or rather targets, tort terror Jerome Schlichter has filed lawsuits against seven prominent universities in recent days alleging fiduciary malfeasance in the managing of their employees’ 403(b) plans.
Schlichter, managing partner with St. Louis-based Schlichter, Bogard and Denton, made a name for himself by suing larger 401(k) plan sponsors and financial services companies, most famously receiving a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court in the case of Tibble v. Edison.
The New York Times reports the latest round of complaints were filed in various federal courts on behalf of the employees of Duke University, John Hopkins, The University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, and Yale.
“All of the suits …share similar overarching themes: The universities all used more than one provider, known as a record keeper, to operate their plans and perform the administrative services to keep them running,” the Times reports. “Had they consolidated to one provider, the plaintiffs claim, they could have used their bargaining power to negotiate much lower fees. Instead, the suits allege, the plans overpaid millions of dollars each year.”
“The complaints allege breaches of the duties of loyalty and prudence under ERISA, which caused plan participants to pay millions of dollars in excessive fees for recordkeeping, administrative, and investment services,” according to Schlichter, Bogard & Denton. “The complaints also allege that the universities breached their fiduciary duties by selecting and retaining high-cost and poor performing investment options compared to available alternatives.”