R.J. Reynolds Employees 401(k) Breach of Duty
Issue: Breach of fiduciary duty
Lieff Cabraser serves as Co-Lead Trial Counsel in Tatum v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, a class action brought in federal court in North Carolina on behalf of over 3,500 employees of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (“RJR”) under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
Plaintiffs allege that RJR breached its duty of prudence in administering the employee 401(k) retirement plan when it liquidated two funds held by the plan on an arbitrary timeline without conducting a thorough investigation, thereby causing a substantial loss to the plan. The 6-week bench trial occurred in January-February 2010 and December 2010, and post-trial briefing concluded in February 2011.
In February 2013, the District Court issued a decision in favor of RJR. The District Court found that RJR breached its fiduciary duty of procedural prudence but concluded that a reasonable and prudent fiduciary could have made the same decision as RJR made. Plaintiffs appealed.
In August 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the holding that RJR breached its duty of procedural prudence and therefore bore the burden of proof as to causation. The Court of Appeals found that the District Court failed to apply the correct legal standard in assessing RJR’s liability, reversed the judgment in favor of RJR, and remanded the case to the District Court for further proceedings. Following a new judgment from the District Court in February 2016, the case has been appealed again and has not yet been resolved.
Civil Litigation News
Judge Will Grant Preliminary Approval to $255M Economic Loss Settlement Against Juul
As reported by Law360, on January 20, 2023, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick of the Federal District Court for the Northern District
Consumer Class Action Over Evenflo Child Car Seats to Move Forward
On Wednesday, January 3, 2023, The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Boston declined to rehear its November 23rd decision reviving the
Federal Court says Evenflo must face ‘Big Kid’ booster seat safety litigation
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Boston has revived class action litigation accusing Evenflo Company Inc of misleading consumers about the