A former trucking company employee urged a South Carolina federal court to certify a 10,000-member class in his lawsuit accusing his former employer of saddling its retirement plan with excessive fees, saying the company’s actions affected all plan participants.
In a motion filed Friday, Curtis Whipple told the court that class treatment was the best way forward in his Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit against Southeastern Freight Lines Inc.
Whipple said in a memorandum supporting the motion that the South Carolina-based transportation company breached its fiduciary duties under federal benefits law by failing to properly assess the recordkeeper marketplace and instead retained an excessively expensive asset manager to provide administrative services to its 401(k) plan.
He told the court Friday that his proposed class checks all the boxes required for certification.
“All the questions of law and fact in this action are common to each class member,” Whipple said. “If plaintiff proves defendant violated an ERISA-imposed duty, that same breach of duty applies to the plan and by extension all plan participants. Therefore, commonality is satisfied.”
