Southeastern Grocers Hit With Class Suit Over 401(k) Plan Fees

Southeastern Grocers LLC was sued Wednesday by a longtime employee who says the supermarket company mismanages its $1 billion retirement plan by overpaying for administrative services.

Plaintiff Joyce Ulch says Southeastern, a supermarket portfolio company that recently announced plans to sell hundreds of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores to Aldi, allowed its workers’ 401(k) plan to pay $3.5 million in excessive administrative fees over the past six years.

The Southeastern plan paid Fidelity Investments Institutional about $73 per person in direct recordkeeping fees each year, Ulch said. A reasonable annual fee for these services would have been about $25 per ...