ConocoPhillips Beats Suit Over 401(k) Plan’s Phillips 66 Stock

ConocoPhillips Co. defeated litigation over the Phillips 66 Co. stock in its 401(k) plan, when a Texas federal judge said the case was governed by a Fifth Circuit decision rejecting a similar challenge to Phillips 66’s own plan.

Judge Sim Lake of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed claims ConocoPhillips violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to appropriately diversify its retirement plan and improperly offering an overly risky, single-stock investment. These claims are foreclosed by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s 2020 decision in Schweitzer v. Investment Committee of ...