University of Chicago Retirement Plan Lawsuit Continues

An ERISA claim in the form of a University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit is still moving forward. The University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit alleges that the way the educational institution runs their two retirement plans results in excessive fees borne by plan participants.

University of Chicago Retirement Plan Lawsuit Includes Claims of Excessive Fees

Overall, the University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit includes a $2.1 billion plan that covers approximately 13,000 former and current university employees. The individual who came forward to initiate the University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit says that a $2.1 billion plan included excessive administrative and recordkeeping fees for plan participants in violation of ERISA.

The school had previously convinced a judge to dismiss all the claims in the University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit by alleging that none of the workers involved in the legal claim specifically got benefits through the bigger plan.

This left only the smaller $980 million plan and the legal claims associated with it. The plaintiffs then added a new party to the University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit that allowed challenges on both plans to continue forward.

Currently, more than one dozen prominent colleges throughout the United States have been hit with class action lawsuits alleging violations of ERISA.

Increasingly, employees mindful of their retirement plans are looking into unnecessary or unreasonable fees and concerns about possible mismanagement by fiduciaries.

The federal ERISA law is a complex set of regulations designed to govern the maintenance of these plans to ensure those plan participants are not forced into plans or investments that do not represent their best interests.

In addition to outlining how fiduciary duties must act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, this federal law also enables employees with legal claims under ERISA as in the case of the University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit.

Challenges to these retirement plans are often brought forward by workers who identify that various violations have occurred. This means that the plan members are the ones responsible for paying the price for illegal actions. Other challenges to retirement are currently affecting schools such as Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Duke, New York University and Johns Hopkins.

As alleged in the University of Chicago retirement plan lawsuit and similar class action claims against other universities, the institutions allegedly provided poorly performing investment options and very expensive plans associated with excessive administrative fees to the record keepers working on the plan.

Any concerns about mismanagement of a plan or excessive fees might prompt the plan participant to initially raise these concerns directly to the plan managers. If that is unsuccessful in resolving the issues the employee may be well within their rights to take legal action with a lawsuit.

If you or someone you know believes you have grounds for an ERISA claim, you need to consult with an experienced attorney as soon as possible. Schedule a consultation today to learn more with the lawyers at Bradley/Grombacher by filling out the form on this page.

The University of Chicago Retirement Plan Lawsuit is Daugherty v. Univ. of Chi. , N.D. Ill., No. 1:17-cv-03736 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Note: Bradley/Grombacher is not representing the plaintiff in this lawsuit.