Schlumberger’s Handling of 401(k) Forfeitures Drives New Lawsuit

Schlumberger Technology Corp. mismanages its 401(k) plan by using forfeited contributions to make its own payments to the plan, current and former employees alleged in a proposed class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses Schlumberger—the oil field services company now known as SLB—of putting the 401(k) contributions forfeited by departing workers toward its own required plan contributions, instead of using this money to lower workers’ administrative expenses. This put the company’s own financial interests ahead of its workers’ retirement savings in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, plaintiffs James Haselman and Dale Moon said in a complaint filed April ...