Schlichter Bogard & Denton

The latest 401(k) lawsuit brought by the firm for the protection of employees and retirees has been the subject of numerous news articles. On behalf of Ameriprise employees and retirees, Schlichter, Bogard & Denton has filed a lawsuit against Ameriprise accusing the financial planning power house of self-dealing and breach of fiduciary duties under ERISA.

St. Louis Business Journal
by Evan Binns

Schlichter Bogard & Denton is gaining national recognition in employee benefits circles. The firm was noticed by the New York Times Oct. 14 for filing a lawsuit against Ameriprise Financial Inc., the largest employer of certified financial employers in the country.

New York Times
by Ron Lieber

Late last month, six people, including one current employee, sued Ameriprise Financial, accusing it of stuffing its 401(k) plan with expensive, underperforming mutual funds that came from the company’s own investment management arm. The law firm behind the suit, Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, in St. Louis, now inspires fear and dread in employee benefits circles, since the suit is one of several it has filed against a variety of companies.

ABC News
by Susanna Kim
Is your 401(k) account loaded with high, hidden fees? New federal 401(k) plan disclosure rules will soon be implemented to highlight how much fees are eating into employer-sponsored retirement accounts.
by Ron Lieber
New York Times
You may not realize this, but your 401(k) or other workplace retirement plan is not free. Sure, you may have looked at the expenses on the mutual funds you own. But there are other costs as well for record-keeping and assorted other administrative costs. And because they generally don’t show up on your quarterly statement, you probably don’t know they are there.
by Schlichter Bogard & Denton

Schlichter Bogard & Denton attorneys tirelessly work to secure the hard earned retirement money of American workers. The firm has litigated class action retirement cases against some of the largest companies in the world. Whether taking a case to trial or fighting aggressively for the best settlement, the attorneys of Schlichter Bogard & Denton have given the common worker a voice in one of the most complicated areas of the law.

by Judy Greenwald, BusinessInsurance.com

LOS ANGELES Energy company Edison International violated its  duty of prudence under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by offering three retail mutual funds as investment options in its 401(k) plan rather than their less costly institutional option equivalents, a Los Angeles federal judge has ruled.

The National Law Journal
Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor are taking a hard look at so-called hidden fees in 401k retirement plans — but not as hard as the look taken by plaintiffs' firms that are suing corporations for allegedly failing to protect their employee's nest eggs.
The 401k Wire
Who are the 401(k) Industry's Most Influential?
Influence can flow from the financial resources to buy a competitor or create and market a new product. It can stem from a new idea that is — or will be — widely adopted or authoring a piece of legislation that changes the industry. It can also be as simple as holding the respect of one's peers so one's ideas can be widely spread and acted upon.
Reuters

BOSTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A U.S. court has granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by employees and retirees of a unit of Swiss engineering group ABB Ltd against the firm and two units of Fidelity Investments, a law firm said on Monday.

Asbury Park Press

The days of the overpriced 401(k)-type retirement plan are numbered. The word is out. Congress will soon hold hearings on program expenses, and the U.S. Labor Department will issue guidelines on making fees more transparent.

Wall Street Journal
Mutual Funds: Fund Track

Fidelity Investments is the latest target of what has become a growing number of lawsuits filed against 401(k) retirement plans alleging that participants were charged improper, undisclosed and excessive fees.

Forbes.com
Companies, People, Ideas

True or false: Your 401(k) plan is costing you more than $1,000 a year. If you can't answer that question you're like a lot of Americans.

Bloomberg.com News
Editorial
Steve Lansing has found that the service providers of many 401(k)-like plans overcharge participants and employers, some by 100 percent or more.
USA Today, Managing Your Money
The 21st Century Retirement
Do you know what you're paying for your 401(k) plan?
Plansponsor.com News
On September 11, 2006, while the nation was focused on the fifth anniversary of the 09/11 terrorist attacks, a St. Louis law firm launched its own "attack" on a wide array of 401(k) plan practices, primarily centered around the application and reporting of fees.
L.A. Times, Business News
Seven of the nation's largest companies violated pension laws by allowing their employees to be overcharged by the outside firms running their 401(k) retirement plans, according to a series of civil lawsuits.
Law Reporter
Association of Trial Lawyers of America

Claudine Wilfong, 36, managed a rent-to-own appliance store in Arnold, Missouri. Renters Choice, Inc., acquired her store and approximately 1,400 others and began operating them as Rent-A-Center stores in 1998. Wilfong noticed that the company's atmosphere changed markedly immediately after the takeover. Managers told women — but not men — that they would have to deliver heavy appliances by themselves rather than in pairs, and demanded that female employees clean restrooms because, they said, "It's women's work." When her supervisor ordered Wilfong to fire a female employee on a pretense, she refused, and quit her job.

Press Release, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Thousands of Women to Receive Money and Jobs, New Human Resources Department to be Created

St. Louis Business Journal

Rent A Center Inc., a consumer rental company headquartered in Plano, Texas, faces a $410 million lawsuit, accusing the firm of discrimination.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

This week a federal judge is expected to approve the largest settlement ever reached in the metropolitan area in a racial discrimination suit.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Company agrees to pay $47 million to women who were victims of bias. A $47 million cash settement was announced here Thursday in a national sex-discrimination suit against Rent-A-Center.
Kansas City Business Journal

Lawyers in a national sex discrimination class-action suit against Rent-A-Center Inc. announced on Thursday that they have reached a tentative settlement with the Plano, Texas, company.

Press Release, Schlicter Bogard & Denton
via Business Wire

ST. LOUIS - Attorneys for more than 5,000 women in a national multi-million dollar sex discrimination class action suit and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that they have reached a tentative settlement in principle with national rent-to-own chain, Rent-A-Center.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

MORE THAN 100 Missourians — including residents of Times Beach, the town shut down by the U.S. government three years ago — have been awarded $19 million in a tentative settlement of three dioxin-contamination suits.