AMPAM Parks Mechanical ESOP Litigation
Barrios, et al. v. AMPAM Parks Mechanical, Inc., et al. (S.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein represents employee participants and beneficiaries of the AMPAM Parks Mechanical, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan in a class action lawsuit alleging that AMPAM Parks Mechanical and the founders of AMPAM, Buddy Parks, John D. Parks, James Parks, and Jason Parks breached their fiduciary duties in the management of the ESOP in violation of ERISA.
AT&T Pension Benefit Plan Litigation
Scott, et al. v. AT&T Inc. (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein represents participants and beneficiaries in the AT&T Pension Benefit Plan who allege that AT&T failed comply with ERISA’s actuarial equivalence requirements when providing married participants joint and survivor annuities.
Casino Queen ESOP Litigation
Hensiek v. Board of Directors of CQ Holding Company, Inc., et al. (S.D. Ill.): Cohen Milstein represents ESOP participants who allege that the Board of Directors of CQ Holding Company, Inc. and related defendants violated ERISA when they created an ESOP to buy their Casino Queen stock for $170 million, a significantly inflated price. In late 2021, the Seventh Circuit directed Defendants to voluntarily dismiss their appeal on the arbitration issue on the heels of our precedent-setting victory before the Seventh Circuit in Smith v. GreatBanc Trust Company, which cited an exception to the Federal Arbitration Act that permits a court to overrule an arbitration agreement if it blocks a party from being able to bring claims under federal law. As of June 28, 2023 the Court referred the case to mediation and stayed the case pending resolution of the mediation.
CITGO Pension Plan Litigation
Urlaub, et al. v. Citgo Petroleum Corporation, et al. (N.D. Ill.): Cohen Milstein represents a certified class of participants and beneficiaries of the CITGO Petroleum Corporation Salaried and Hourly Employees Pension Plans, who allege CITGO violated ERISA by applying outdated mortality tables to the CITGO Plans to determine the value of joint and survivor annuities, resulting in married retirees receiving less than the actuarial equivalent of the benefit that ERISA protects. On May 6, 2024, the Court largely denied CITGO’s motion for summary judgment.
Envision Management Holding, Inc. ESOP Litigation
Harrison v. Envision Management Holding, Inc. Board of Directors, et al. (D. Col.): Cohen Milstein represents Envision Management Holding ESOP participants, who allege the ESOP purchased Envision Management Holding stock at an inflated price, causing a multi-million-dollar loss to the ESOP. On February 9, 2023, A three-judge panel for the Tenth Circuit, in a 41-page published opinion, sided with Plaintiffs’ argument, which was backed up by a U.S. Department of Labor amicus brief, that an arbitration provision tucked in Envision workers’ ESOP plan impermissibly blocked remedies under ERISA, triggering an exemption in the Federal Arbitration Act, which permits a court to overrule an arbitration agreement if it blocks a party from being able to bring claims under federal law. On October 10, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Defendants’ petition to review the Tenth Circuit’s decision, thereby affirming the lower court’s March 24, 2022 ruling, which denied Defendants’ motion to compel arbitration.
GWA, LLC 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan Litigation
Andrew-Berry, et al. v. Weiss (D. Conn.): Cohen Milstein represents participants in the GWA, LLC 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan who allege that GWA, LLC and George A. Weiss breached their fiduciary duties and misused employee retirement plan assets to further their own pecuniary interest, in violation of ERISA. Specifically, plaintiffs allege that 100% of the Plan’s investments (all of which are 401(k) assets) were and continue to be invested in “The Weiss Funds,” which includes the company’s flagship hedge fund named the “Weiss Multi-Strategy Partners Ltd.” and the company’s mutual fund named the “Weiss Alternative Multi-Strategy Fund,” which generally “replicates” the hedge fund’s strategy.
IBM Personal Pension Plan Litigation
Knight v. International Business Machines Corporation, et al. (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represents participants and beneficiaries of the IBM Personal Pension Plan, who allege that the IBM Personal Pension Plan uses outdated mortality tables to determine the value of joint and survivor annuities, resulting in married retirees receiving less than the actuarial equivalent of the benefit that ERISA protects in violation of ERISA.
Intel Minimum Pension Plan Litigation
Berkeley v. Intel Corporation et al (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein represents a putative class of pension plan participants and beneficiaries, who allege that the Intel Minimum Pension Plan utilized outdated mortality tables to determine the value of joint and survivor annuities, resulting in married retirees receiving less than the actuarial equivalent of the benefit that ERISA protects.
Litigio ESOP de Western Milling
Resumen de la Demanda Esta demanda, Zavala v. Kruse-Western Inc. et al., presentada en nombre de los participantes y beneficiarios del Plan de Propiedad de Acciones para Empleados de Western Milling (“ESOP”), alega numerosas violaciones de la Ley de Seguridad de los Ingresos de Jubilación de los Empleados Retirados (“ERISA”) en relación con la venta […]