David Was Quoted by the Connecticut Law Tribune Regarding Haddock v. Nationwide Life Insurance

I was quoted in in the Connecticut Law Tribune this week regarding the recent ERISA case of Haddock v. Nationwide Life Insurance Co. in which a class action settlement was approved with a payment of $140 million to class members, and attorneys’ fees of $49,000.  The plaintiffs in the case asserted that the company administering their 401k plans based on whether the funds would pay the company fees rather than choosing funds that would have the lowest fees for participants.  

Here is a link to the article  (free registration required).  Here’s the part where I was quoted:

        David Rintoul, of Brown, Paindiris, & Scott's Glastonbury office, was not involved in the         case but focuses on ERISA issues and authors an ERISA blog. Rintoul explained that           this litigation was not between individual investors and Nationwide; instead, the                     plaintiffs were the executives who ran the corporate 401(k) plans. For instance, 
        he said if X,Y,Z machine shop had a 401(k) plan and arranged with Nationwide to offer         it to employees, Nationwide, in choosing the investment product for the employees,               chose which mutual fund which offered to share the most revenue.
       "So it's essentially a kickback," said Rintoul. "It creates the appearance Nationwide was         choosing who would give it the best deal rather than the fiduciary duty of doing what             was best for the plans and ultimately the participants."
        Rintoul said the landscape has changed significantly since 2001 when this case began.        He said there are more requirements now regarding fee disclosures.
       "To some extent, Nationwide addresses an issue [in the settlement] that shouldn't exist        anymore," said Rintoul.

While this blog is primarily focused on those with long-term disability benefit claims, my ERISA practice covers all areas of ERISA, including breach of fiduciary duty cases.  If you have any potentional breach of fiduciary duty cases under ERISA, please call and I would be happy to discuss it.