If you are considering filing a lawsuit, you have several options, including the Exclusion from class-action status in the Great-West Lifetime Funds lawsuit. In this article, we’ll discuss whether the alleged excessive fees and performance of the fund were “excessive” and whether there are grounds to pursue a class action lawsuit. There are other factors to consider, such as the size of the class and whether the lawsuit will proceed to trial.
Exclusion from class in Great-West Lifetime Funds lawsuit
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 3-0 that the case, Obeslo et al. vs. Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co., should be dismissed as a class action. The lawsuit, filed in January 2016, seeks to hold the financial services company liable for the investments made by its clients.
Class size in Great-West Lifetime Funds lawsuit
The court in Obeslo v. Great-West Lifetime Funds, a lawsuit filed in 2010 by investors, upheld the lower court’s decision, ruling that the class size was not too large. In this case, three plaintiffs invested in the Great-West funds as part of a retirement plan sponsored by their employer or through a separate individual account. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the funds charged them excessive fees, which were not reasonable for the services rendered. To establish a class size, however, plaintiffs must establish that compensation was excessive and that the compensation bears no reasonable relationship to the services rendered. The court found that the plaintiffs had not made a credible effort to prove that the fees were excessive.
The plaintiff-appellants in the Great-West Lifetime Funds lawsuit include a broad class of investors who invested in a major mutual fund complex. They were employees of employer-sponsored retirement plans. Plaintiffs alleged that their investments had underperformed and lost value. Defendants have counterclaimed to avert this harm and have filed their Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
Class action status in Great-West Lifetime Funds lawsuit
The court has ruled that this lawsuit should be tried as a class action because it is a much better and more efficient way to litigate predominately class issues. The court has certified the class under two different subparts of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure: 23(b)(1)(A) and 23(b)(3). For more information about this ruling, see the Court’s Order Certifying Classes.
The company, which managed the fund, maintains that it did not commit any wrongdoing. This lawsuit alleges that Great-West failed to fulfill its fiduciary duties under ERISA and failed to allocate excess profits from the Fund to Class members’ 401(k) plans. The company does not yet admit guilt, and if the court rules against Great-West, the money may never come out.
The court found that Great-West failed to fulfill its duty as a fiduciary under ERISA by improperly determining the Credited Interest Rate. While the court found that Great-West did not act in the best interests of its participants, the plaintiffs asserted that the changes to the Credited Interest Rate were made without the plaintiffs’ consent. Nonetheless, the court found that the plaintiffs had not made sufficient evidence to establish that they were entitled to receive compensation for their losses.
