Class members suing Meriter Health Services re their pension fund have had part of their claims barred, but the breach of fiduciary duty claim stands.
Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim Stands While Court Kills Most Claims Against Meriter Plan
July 7, 2014. By Matthew Loughran via bna.com A federal judge in Wisconsin has determined that almost all claims by a group of 11 subclasses representing more than 4,000 participants in the pension plan of Meriter Health Services Inc. are barred by the applicable statute of limitations.In a July 3 opinion, Judge William M. Conley granted partial summary judgment to Meriter, finding that the majority of claims against the administrator accrued in 2003 at the latest, making the class action untimely as it was filed in 2010, well beyond the six-year statute of limitations. The court did, however, refuse summary judgment on the claim that the administrator breached its fiduciary duties to act solely in the interest of the plan participants by concealing potential violations of tax code Section 417(e) when calculating lump-sum payments to participants. That claim will be the subject of a trial before Conley scheduled for July 28. Read the full article
