Wilmington Trust Sees Stock Plan Suit Certified as Class Action

Wilmington Trust NA is facing a certified class action challenging its role in a $375 million transaction in which employees of Martin Resource Management Corp. assumed ownership of the company, according to a Dec. 10 ruling by a federal judge in Delaware.

Judge Richard G. Andrews granted class status to about 2,300 people covered by Martin Resource’s employee stock ownership plan. Plan participants Lyle Guidry and Rodney Choate are adequate class representatives, even though Choate was only 20% vested in his stock plan account when he left the Texas oil transportation company in 2013, Andrews said.

The lawsuit challenges Wilmington ...