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The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court's ruling that an arbitration award in a stock option case was warranted (Coleman Co. v. Brown, U.S. No. 00-1051, cert denied, 2/26/01).

In an important case, the Supreme Court has started hearing arguments in a case concerning the standing of individual participants in a defined contribution retirement plan to sue for denied benefits rather than having to sue on behalf of the entire plan. The case, James LaRue v.

On April 2, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, U.S., No. 12-751, concerning the so-called Moench presumption, which has been adopted by several circuit courts and is often used as a basis to dismiss stock-drop suits.

On January 9, the Supreme Court invited the solicitor general to file a brief in a case regarding ESOPs, indicating the Court's interest in hearing the case. The case concerns whether ERISA permits courts to order one fiduciary to indemnify another. In the case, Fenkell v.

In Tibble v. Edison International, No. 13-550 (U.S., May 18, 2015), the Supreme Court ruled that plaintiffs can timely commence a claim for breach of fiduciary duty within six years of the breach of a continuing duty of prudence in selecting investments.

In the last email bulletin we reported on the oral arguments in the Dudenhoeffer v. Fifth Third Bank case, during which the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the ESOP presumption of prudence.

In Lampkin v. UBS Fin. Servs. Inc., No. 19-249 (U.S., petition denied Oct.

In Jander v. Retirement Plans Committee of IBM (2nd Cir. Dec.

On June 25, the Supreme Court ruled in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer that there is no presumption of prudence to protect fiduciaries of plans designed to invest in company stock, and specifically employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).

Since a seminal case in 1985 (Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Russell, 473 U.S. 134), courts have largely, if not unanimously, concluded that individuals could not sue ERISA plan fiduciaries for individual losses to the plan.