Symetra Must Face African Methodist Church Pension Challenge

Symetra Life Insurance Co. can’t escape a lawsuit by African Methodist Episcopal Church pastors who say their pension plan suffered steep losses from fraudulent management and unwise investments facilitated by the insurer.

The pastors can press claims that Symetra fraudulently concealed key facts about their pension plan, engaged in a civil conspiracy with other defendants, and aided and abetted breaches of fiduciary duty, Judge S. Thomas Anderson said in an opinion issued Monday in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. But Anderson dismissed claims for breach of trust and misappropriation of funds under Tennessee law, saying ...