August 21, 2026
A Colorado federal judge declined Friday to let board members of radiology company Envision escape a suit headed to a bench trial over claims they orchestrated an inflated $163.7 million stock sale to an employee stock ownership plan, ruling it’s too contested whether they had control of the deal.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney denied a motion for partial summary judgment from Envision Management Holding Inc.’s board of directors in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action. The judge credited evidence that they could be considered fiduciaries of the plan and may be held liable alongside the ESOP’s trustee, Argent Trust Co. A bench trial has been set for the case in October.
“The court agrees with plaintiffs that Argent’s role as trustee does not immunize the board defendants from any liability, given that they may retain their status as functional fiduciaries even if they did not serve as named trustees as to the ESOP transaction,” the judge said.
Named plaintiff Robert Harrison sued Envision’s board of directors and Argent in January 2021, and Grace Heath joined the suit as a named representative later on. They claimed that in 2017, Envision inflated its worth when it sold its stock to the ESOP, a deal that was orchestrated with a $103.5 million loan carrying a 12% interest rate from the company’s founders to finance the purchase.
The former workers said U.S. Department of Labor filings showed that the ESOP also “inexplicably” paid two different share prices for the same stock — about two thirds of the stock was sold for $1,770 per share and the remaining stock was sold for $1,404 per share. A few months after the purchase, the shares were only worth about $350 each, according to the suit. In January 2025, the workers secured class certification.
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Michelle Yau, who represents the class, told Law360 that she’s pleased with the court’s ruling.
“We look forward to presenting evidence at trial showing that defendants’ conduct caused substantial losses to the retirement plan,” Yau said.
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The workers are represented by Caroline E. Bressman, Daniel R. Sutter, Kai H. Richter, Michelle C. Yau, Ryan A. Wheeler and Joseph M. Sellers of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.