District Court Refuses to Grant Class Status In Investment Lawsuit Against Kraft, Altria

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois refused Oct. 25 to certify as a class Kraft Foods Global Inc. employees who asserted that Kraft and certain affiliates breached their fiduciary duties by selecting two allegedly imprudent investments for their defined contribution plan (George v. Kraft Foods Global Inc., N.D. Ill., 1:08-cv-003799, 10/25/11).

Although this lawsuit had originally been certified as a class action, Judge Ruben Castillo vacated the class certification this past July in light of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Spano v. Boeing Co., 633 F.3d ...