Tenneco’s Arbitration Bid Falls Flat in 401(k) Plan Fee Lawsuit

Tenneco Inc. lost its bid to force a dispute over its retirement plan fees into arbitration, when a federal judge determined that the plan’s arbitration provision improperly limited rights guaranteed by federal law.

The Tenneco plan attempts to block participants from seeking plan-wide relief or bringing claims in a representative capacity, Judge George Caram Steeh said. Because this provision prohibits the plan-wide remedies specifically authorized by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, it can’t be used to force arbitration in a lawsuit that specifically seeks those remedies, the judge said.

“These rights and remedies provided to plans under ERISA may ...