Plan Trustees Allege ‘Bad Advice,’ But No Fiduciary Breach, 9th Circuit Affirms

Mealey's (July 2, 2020, 4:24 PM EDT) -- SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 23 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment that a pair of online driving schools failed to show that third-party administrators of the schools’ retirement plans were acting as fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act when their advice allegedly led to the an overfunding of the plans (Cheap Easy Online Traffic School, et al., v. Peter L. Huntting & Co., et al., Nos. 19-55055 and 19-55653, Cheap Easy Online Traffic School, et al. v. SMI Pensions, et al., No. 19-55654, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 19630)....