Retirement and Pension Plan Lawsuits in California

A retirement plan manager supervises the administration and performance of the benefit plans, retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans, and pension plans offered by employers to their employees.

Among other duties, they must make sure that the plan they administer follows all applicable federal and state laws and regulations. A plan manager or administrator has a fiduciary duty of loyalty to their plan and its participants, the people who benefit from the plan, i.e., beneficiaries.

For example, a plan manager must ensure that their plan complies with all of the legal obligations of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act was enacted to prevent abuse of benefit, pension, and retirement plans by their administrators and managers. It requires that plan participants be provided with clear and accurate information about the details of their plans. For example, the following information should be provided:

• General offering: What the general offering of the plan is.
• Plan funding: How the plan is funded, e.g., whether the employer matches the amount their employee contributes.
• Length of Service: In many plans, an employee must work for their employer for a certain amount of time before they can participate in the plan. If so, this must be explained.
• Minimum Contribution: Employees who participate in the plan must meet the minimum contribution required.
• Time of Vesting: An employee must also often work for a certain amount of time before they are granted access to all of the funds.
• Process for Appealing: When an employee participant has a complaint related to the plan, they should follow the method prescribed by the plan for filing a complaint.
• Right to Sue: Plan participants should be informed of the fact that they may file a lawsuit if the plan’s appeal procedure does not work for them.

ERISA provides minimum standards for such actions as the funding and vesting of plans. A legal consultation in California with a California lawyer would help a person understand their plan and what it offers them.

In addition, plan managers coordinate with plan providers, e.g., businesses that offer financial products or other essential services, and educate employees about their retirement benefits. They must analyze investment options, monitor contributions, and try to optimize the efficiency of the plan. They help the businesses they serve offer competitive retirement benefits.

What Fiduciary Duties May Be Raised in a Lawsuit in California?

Generally, a fiduciary is a person who owes a duty of loyalty to another person because of a role they play in the other person’s affairs. In the role they play, a fiduciary is legally obligated to act mainly for the benefit of the other person and not themselves.

As for retirement and pension plans, the law defines exactly what duties a fund manager or administrator must fulfill. Many of the actions needed to operate a qualified retirement plan involve fiduciary decisions. For example, they must decide whether to hire someone to manage the plan for them or manage it themselves. Deciding whether to hire someone to fulfill a fiduciary role and then hiring the person is a fiduciary act.

Fiduciary status is based on the functions performed and not a title. There are equitable relief provisions in ERISA and most claims for breach of fiduciary duty are brought under these provisions. Examples of breaches of fiduciary duty would be the following:

• Bad Investment Decisions: Ill-advised, unprofessional investments of plan assets
• Self-dealing: Self-dealing happens when a fiduciary acts in such a way as to serve their own interest and not in the interest of plan beneficiaries and possibly at their expense. Many different kinds of conduct may be self-dealing but they have one thing in common – it involves conduct that benefits the fiduciary and not plan beneficiaries who are supposed to benefit from the fiduciaries actions.

Some decisions regarding a plan are only business decisions and not fiduciary acts. The decision of a business to set up a plan for its employees, what features to include in it and whether to terminate a plan are all business decisions. However, taking steps to implement these decisions may be covered by the law of fiduciary duty.

What Claims May Apply to Retirement Plan Administrators?

If the benefits of a retirement or pension plan are wrongfully denied to a person who is entitled to receive them, this may violate ERISA. In a case that alleges the wrongful denial of benefit, courts may apply a deferential standard if the plan gives a manager or administrator the discretionary authority. Then, the court would confirm a manager’s decision unless it was arbitrary and capricious.

However, before a person may sue a plan manager in court, they must go through an internal claim process. First of all, a plan administrator must provide written notice of a benefit denial, which includes the reason for the denial with citation to the provisions of the plan that allow the denial. It must also describe the appeal process. Participants usually have 60 days to appeal health and disability claims and 180 days for denial of pension and other benefits.

There are very particular rules that govern the appeal process, e.g., people who were not involved in the initial denial must review the appeal. There are special rules for disability claims. The denial of an appeal must be explained in writing and include the reasons and their right to sue.

If an employee asserts their rights under ERISA, their employer cannot retaliate against employees for asserting their ERISA rights, e.g., reporting fiduciary misconduct. Courts have allowed employees to sue if they were fired or demoted after asserting their rights. An employee might win reinstatement and back pay.

Participants can also seek an injunction that would prevent continuing violations, such as improper plan changes that reduce benefits employees have accrued in violation of ERISA.

An employee who wishes to challenge a plan administrator’s action might also sue for common law breach of fiduciary duty or even negligence under California law. So retirement and pension plan lawsuits might also claim compensatory damages for breach of fiduciary duty or negligence under California law.

Can I Bring a Class Action Lawsuit Against a Retirement Plan Administrator in California?

Class action lawsuits against the employer of a retirement or benefit plan administrator are possible under ERISA. In fact, in 2025, a class of employees filed a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit under ERISA against their employer.

They alleged that the administrator of their employer’s health insurance plan breached their ERISA duties of prudence and loyalty when they gave their pharmacy benefit manager unconstrained authority and allowed them to pay unnecessarily high prices for prescription drugs and administrative fees.

This is just one case. Numerous class actions have reportedly been filed against retirement, pension and other benefit plans managers and/or their employers for ERISA violations.

Do I Need To Hire a Lawyer for Help With a Retirement and Pension Plan Lawsuit in California?

If you believe that your employer’s pension or retirement plan has been mismanaged in some way or that you have been denied benefits wrongly, you want to talk to a California employment lawyer. Your lawyer will review your case and tell you whether you have grounds for a lawsuit. Suing a benefit plan manager is not something you would undertake on your own, as it can get technical. You definitely want to have professional legal help with your claim.