Trader Joe’s Begins Novel Trial Over Its 401(k) Plan Decisions

Trader Joe’s “came first and no one came second,” lawyers for the grocer’s current and former employees told a federal judge during openings of a novel trial about the company’s management of their 401(k) plan assets.

The plan participants, led by Beau Stephen and other ex-employees, claim Trader Joe’s mismanagement of their retirement plan costs them tens of millions of dollars and violated prudence and loyalty standards enshrined in the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The trial is believed to be the first to test what companies can do with forfeited retirement plan funds—unvested dollars left in departing employees’ ...