Northwestern University Retirement Plan Suit Heads to SCOTUS

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the fees and investment options in Northwestern University’s retirement plan, the justices announced Friday, following the advice of the acting U.S. solicitor general.

Northwestern employees want the high court to undo a 2020 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that they say created a circuit split on the standard for pleading fiduciary breach claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. According to the employees, the Seventh Circuit’s decision favoring Northwestern imposed a “heightened pleading standard” and created a conflict with the Third and Eighth circuits, ...