March 29, 2024
More than 50,000 participants in a Nationwide pension plan can proceed as a class with claims that the company unlawfully transferred assets from the plan to a company subsidiary, as an Ohio federal judge ruled that questions about Nationwide’s conduct outweigh differences among participants.
In an order issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison granted class certification in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act led by former Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. employees Ryan Sweeney and Bryan Marshall. They alleged in their January 2020 suit that Nationwide Mutual made illegal transfers from the pension plan — an investment option under Nationwide’s larger savings plan called the Guaranteed Investment Fund — to Nationwide Life Insurance Co., which serviced the plan.
“We agree with the court’s analysis that all class members have an interest in recovering the alleged excessive fees of the fund on behalf of the plan, and look forward to proving our clients’ ERISA claims at trial,” said Kai Richter of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, who is representing the plan participants.
Read Sweeping Class Certified In Nationwide Pension Plan Suit.