American Century Workers Win Class Treatment in 401(k) Fee Case

American Century Services LLC’s current and former employees can proceed as a class with their claims that the financial company allegedly filled its 401(k) plan with high-fee, poorly performing proprietary investment options.

Between 2,000 and 2,500 participants in American Century’s 401(k) plan were certified as a class, according to Chief Judge Greg Kays’ Dec. 6 decision.

Kays expressly rejected American Century’s argument that the case shouldn’t be certified as a class action because the proposed class members each made individual, unique investment decisions and therefore lacked standing. The participants’ claims are brought in a representative capacity on behalf of the ...