Columbia Workers Get Trial in Retirement Plan Mismanagement Suit

Columbia University workers can go to trial in their lawsuit accusing school trustees of mismanaging their retirement plans, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled Monday.

A trial is needed to determine whether Columbia trustees breached their legal duties when they allegedly failed to rein in the plans’ administrative fees, failed to consolidate the plans’ multiple record keepers, and failed to appropriately monitor and remove underperforming investments, Judge George B. Daniels of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held.

Daniels also allowed the workers to introduce opinions from expert witnesses who say the Columbia plans’ fees ...