Anyone who thinks that the wheels of justice move quickly, hasn’t been on trial in state court.  Let’s just say that state court moves a little on the slow side.  Lots of hurry up and wait. 

Today’s post is from Evil HR Lady, who I told you about in a prior post.  I won’t bore you with the details, but I find her column to be both informative and a pleasure to read.  Today, she talks about 401(k) administrators, a topic I touched on a little while ago. 

Ever since my little brother graduated from law school, I’ve been looking for people to sue. (Hey, free lawyer!)

Now, I have one more: My 401k administrators.

In the specific case, LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc. et al,  LaRue asked his plan administrators to transfer his 401k from stocks to cash. They didn’t, and he lost $150,000. So he sued.

His company said, "hey you can’t do that. The law only allows for groups of people to sue us if we screw up. You’re a single person!" Seems strange enough, but given that the law was written by congress, what can you expect?

Well, the Supreme Court ruled–unanimously–that individuals can sue their 401k plan administrators when administrators commit a "breach of fiduciary duty," regardless of whether the victim is a single person or a group of people.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you can turn around and sue if the stock market tanks. What it does mean is that if your 401k plan allows you to re-allocate how your money is invested, and you ask and they don’t, and you lose money, then you can sue.

What does this mean for us average worker types? Well, probably not much. Most 401k plan administrators don’t neglect to make changes when employees ask them too.

For companies, and their plan administrators, it means they better follow through when people ask them to make changes. Otherwise, I’ll have to start giving my brother’s phone number out.