Parker-Hannifin Suit Revival Hints at Lower 401(k) Challenge Bar

A recent appeals court ruling for Parker-Hannifin Corp. employees offers a strikingly worker-friendly take on the standard some courts use to parse the hundreds of lawsuits challenging retirement plan fees and investments.

The Nov. 20 decision requires Parker-Hannifin, a Cleveland-based company specializing in motion technology, to defend claims that it mismanaged its 32,000-person 401(k) plan when it retained unproven and underperforming target date funds from Northern Trust.

Parker-Hannifin workers have viable ERISA claims because they plausibly alleged that the Northern Trust Focus Funds had high investor turnover and underperformed a target date fund index from S&P Global, the US Court ...