Cornell Law School
On Oct. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a ruling that dismissed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 28,000 Cornell University employees accusing the school's retirement plans of paying excessive recordkeeping fees.
Filed in 2016, Cunningham v. Cornell University claims that Cornell and its fiduciaries breached their ERISA duties by:
- Offering certain investment products (CREF Stock Account, Money Market Account, TIAA Traditional Annuity) that were not in the best interest of participants.
- Failing to effectively monitor and control recordkeeping fees.
- Failing to effectively monitor and offer appropriate investment options.
This lawsuit was one of several lawsuits that year, accusing colleges and universities of violating ERISA by failing to adequately monitor retirement plans, drop underperforming investments or limit fees, and not the first to reach the Supreme Court. Duke, Columbia, the University of Southern California and Washington University in St. Louis have paid as much as $13 million to settle ERISA cases in recent years, while denying wrongdoing
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