Duke Energy Retirement Plan Fee Challenge Suit Gets Early Boost

A proposed class action accusing electric power holding company Duke Energy Corp. of mismanaging its 401(k) plan got a boost when a federal magistrate judge in the Western District of North Carolina recommended the case move forward over the company’s motion to dismiss.

Plan participant Michael Johnson’s allegations—that Duke Energy failed to negotiate a better deal on the plan’s excessive record keeping fees—state a viable claim for fiduciary breach under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Magistrate Judge David S. Cryer said in a report issued Thursday. Cryer recommended that Johnson’s case move forward in its entirety.

Johnson seeks to ...