United States Fourth Circuit

Amendments to a 401(k) plan, which require elimination of a 401(k)'s investment funds, do not bar a plaintiff from stating a claim that the decision to liquidate the funds violated ERISA's duty of prudence.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/14/2004
• Published 12/14/2004

Judges

• Before MICHAEL and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and Henry E. HUDSON, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:Jeffrey G. Lewis, Lewis, Feinberg, Renaker & Jackson, P.C., Oakland, California, for Appellant.  Daniel Russell Taylor, Jr., Kilpatrick Stockton, L.L.P., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellees.  George William Scott, III, United States Department of Labor, Washington, DC, for Amicus Supporting Appellant. ON BRIEF:  Robert M. Elliot, J. Griffin Morgan, Elliot, Pishko, Morgan, P.A., Winston-Salem, North Carolina;  Bill L. Lee, James M. Finberg, Leiff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, San Francisco, California;  Lisa T. Belenky, Lewis, Feinberg, Renaker & Jackson, P.C., Oakland, California, for Appellant.  Adam H. Charnes, Kristin M. Major, Kilpatrick Stockton, L.L.P., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellees.  Howard M. Radzely, Solicitor of Labor, Timothy D. Hauser, Associate Solicitor, Plan Benefits Security Division, Elizabeth Hopkins, for Appellate and Special Litigation, G. William Scott, Senior Trial Attorney, Office of the Solicitor, United States Department Of Labor, Washington, DC. for Amicus Supporting Appellant.   Hollis T. Hurd, The Benefits Department, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;  Susan Relland, Lynn Dudley, American Benefits Council, Washington, DC, for American Benefits Council;  Stephen A. Bokat, Ellen Dunham Bryant, National Chamber Litigation Center, Washington, DC, for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Amici Supporting Appellees.