Texas-based Fringe Benefit Group is no longer facing a 90,000-person class action accusing it of high fees and self-dealing, after the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday undid a decision certifying a class of participants in more than 1,700 employer-sponsored plans.
The decision certifying the case as a class action didn’t include the “rigorous analysis” required by Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Fifth Circuit said. It sent the case back to a federal judge in Texas so he could reexamine whether the 1,700 or more benefit plans at issue had any relevant differences that could prevent the ...