He seeks to represent a class of all participants and beneficiaries who have invested in Southeastern’s plan since Jan. 1, 2017. He estimates that the class encompasses 10,000 people and therefore contends the numerosity element of class actions is also satisfied.
Because the company’s decisions regarding the plan affected each participant the same way, Whipple said, his claims against Southeastern are typical of all other proposed class members.
And since he shares with all proposed class members the goal of recouping plan losses, Whipple said, he’s an apt representative and has no conflicts of interest with the rest of the class.
Whipple sued Southeastern in September. He said that throughout the class period, the company failed to monitor or renegotiate the compensation it paid to its retirement plan’s recordkeeper, T. Rowe Price RPS Inc.
Because of this oversight, retirement plan participants paid more than $50 per year for TRP’s recordkeeping services while participants in similarly sized plans paid closer to $25, Whipple said.
