In a victory for employers, the defense in Hecker v. Deere & Co. successfully beat back the first of numerous class action lawsuits alleging 401(k) abuse to reach the federal circuit level.
Hecker plaintiffs, like others in similar suits that plaintiffs’ firms brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), attacked plan sponsors for falling short as fiduciaries. Schlichter Bogard & Denton initiated this wave of litigation in 2006, filing suits against several large corporations, including Boeing and Kraft Foods.
