Solicitor Backs Cornell Workers in SCOTUS Retirement Plan Row

Cornell University workers challenging their retirement plan fees have viable claims under ERISA’s prohibited transaction rules, the US solicitor general said in an amicus brief filed with the US Supreme Court.

The solicitor, joined by the US Department of Labor, on Monday backed a worker-friendly interpretation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s prohibited transaction rules, which are aimed at putting guardrails on transactions between benefit plans and interested parties. According to the solicitor, plan participants can bring viable claims under these rules without negating certain affirmative defenses that must be proven by the plan fiduciary being sued.

The case ...