Stay informed on the latest legal developments impacting employee ownership with timely and concise summaries of key cases and rulings. Learn more about this digest »
Corey Rosen
In Pizzella v. Vinoskey, No. 6:16-cv-00062, (W.D. Va., Aug. 2, 2019), a district court imposed a $6.5 million judgment in an ESOP valuation case. An ESOP had bought the remaining shares of Sentry Equipment in the transaction for $21 million.
Corey Rosen
In Cunningham v. Wawa, Inc., No. 19-8029, (3rd Cir., order granting petition to appeal, Aug. 13, 2019), Wawa convinced an appeals court to review a lower court ruling that certified a class of 1,000 who claimed they were improperly prevented from keeping their Wawa stock until they turned 68.
Corey Rosen
In Lee v. Argent Trust, No. 5:19-cv-00156-BO (W.D.N.C., Aug. 7, 2019) a district court ruled that a post-transaction drop in the value of Choate Construction’s ESOP stock value from $198 million to $65 million did not indicate a fiduciary violation by the plan’s trustee, Argent Trust.
Corey Rosen
In an Aug. 18, 2019, amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the case of Jander v. IBM, the Department of Labor argued that the proper standard for determining if a fiduciary should disclose insider information affecting company stock in a retirement plan should be what securities law requires.
Corey Rosen
In Cunningham v. Wawa et. al., No. 218-cv-03355-PD (E.D., Pa., July 2, 2019), over 1,000 former Wawa employees were granted class action in a lawsuit over changes in Wawa’s ESOP distribution rules.
Corey Rosen
In Zavala v. Kruse-Western, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-00239-DAD-SKO (E.D. Cal., July 26, 2019), a district court ruled that GreatBanc Trust and the board of Kruse-Western must defend themselves in a lawsuit over the 90% drop in stock price following a $244 million ESOP buyout.
Corey Rosen
In O’Day v. Chatila, No. 18-2621 (2nd Cir., June 7, 2019, unpublished), the Second Circuit affirmed a lowa court ruling stating that employees had not alleged a sufficient claim to overcome the Dudenhoeffer rule that plaintiffs must show that defendants had a plausible alternative course of action with regard to company stock investments in a retirement plan that would not have done more harm than good.
Corey Rosen
In Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander, No. 18-1165 U.S. (certiorari granted June 3, 2019), the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a Second Circuit decision that could have a significant impact on how the Dudenhoeffer standard is interpreted.
Corey Rosen
In Bloostein et al. v. Morrison Cohen LLP et al. No. 651241/2102, (Supreme Court of NY, Feb. 19, 2019), the law firm Morrison Cohen was denied a motion to dismiss a case against it arguing that advice it provided to sellers to multiple ESOPs caused them to lose their tax deferral in a Section 1042(a) transaction.
Corey Rosen
In Foster v. Adams & Assocs., Inc., No. 3:18-cv-02723-JSC, N.D. Cal., Feb. 26, 2019), a district court ruled that employees can proceed with a lawsuit alleging the ESOP at Adams & Associates overpaid for the shares and that the trustee for the plan, a former felon, should not have been appointed.
