Employee Ownership Legal Digest

Stay informed on the latest legal developments impacting employee ownership. This page provides timely and concise summaries of key cases and rulings, contributed by experienced attorneys, to help the entire employee ownership community understand their implications, and also offers access to NCEO's archive of prior content.

Latest Cases

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March 13, 2026

Court Permits Most Claims in Hollandia ESOP Suit to Proceed

Christopher Wingard

At the motion to dismiss stage, a North Carolina federal district court permitted most ERISA fiduciary-breach claims, brought by former Hollandia Produce Group, Inc.’s employees on behalf of the company’s ESOP, to proceed against GreatBanc Trust Company (the ESOP trustee); Mosaic Capital Investors I, LP; True West Capital Partners Fund II, L.P.; certain other defendants; and attorney Michael Zeller.

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March 13, 2026

ISCO Plaintiffs Get Class Certification

Lauren Wood

The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in the ongoing action arising from the termination of ISCO Industries’ Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). In 2012, the Kirchdorfer family sold all the shares of ISCO Industries, Inc. (ISCO) to the ESOP for approximately $98 million.

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March 09, 2026

ESOP Class Action Settlement in ACCT Holdings, Inc. Litigation Clears First Hurdle

Allison Wilkerson

On February 3, 2026, a court granted preliminary approval of the parties’ proposed class settlement in LeDuc et al. v. Paredes et al., allowing an $8.75 million ACCT ESOP settlement to proceed to notice and final approval.

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Recommended Titles

ESOP and 401(k) Plan Employer Stock Litigation Review 1990-2025

Categorizes and summarizes litigation over company stock in ESOPs and 401(k) plans.

ESOP Regulatory Rulings 1990-2025

Categorizes and summarizes IRS and DOL rulings and regulations on ESOPs and related plans.

Meet Our Authors

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Alan H. Kandel

Alan H. Kandel is a Partner at Husch Blackwell specializing in Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation. He counsels a wide variety of clients—including ... »

Allison Wilkerson

Allison is a Partner at McDermott Will & Schulte in Dallas, where she focuses her practice on employee benefits matters with extensive experience in ERISA ... »

Christopher Wingard

Chris is an associate in Kleinbard’s Business & Finance Practice. He advises corporations, shareholders, directors and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) ... »

Corey Rosen

NCEO founder and senior staff member

David Joffe

David is a Partner and Chair of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice Group at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Nashville. He advises ... »

Griffin O'Gara

Griffin F. O'Gara is an Associate in Krieg DeVault's Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice. Mr. O'Gara primarily devotes his practice to ... »