The Hills run for the, er, hills29 May 2020 19:32
Metro Bank Investment Spurs ERISA Suit Against Architecture Firm
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/employee-benefits/metro-bank-investment-spurs-erisa-suit-against-architecture-firm
A New Jersey-based architecture firm owned by the wife of former Metro Bank Plc chairman Vernon Hill lost nearly 75% of its profit sharing plan assets by investing in the bank, a former firm employee alleged in a proposed class action complaint.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, claims the InterArch Inc. profit sharing plan lost more than $12 million by investing most of the plan’s assets in a single investment: the stock of the troubled London bank Vernon Hill co-founded. The lawsuit names InterArch, Vernon Hill, and InterArch president Shirley Hill as defendants.
Former InterArch employee Jonathan McCann says plan participants didn’t know how their retirement savings were invested and only recently learned of the large decline in assets. According to McCann, participants were erroneously told the plan’s steep losses were connected to the market decline accompanying the Covid-19 health crisis.
Vernon Hill stepped down from Metro Bank in 2019, as the bank posted steep losses for the year.
Causes of Action: Breach of fiduciary duties, prohibited transactions, and failure to provide plan documents in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Relief: Declaration of fiduciary breach, restoration of plan losses, disgorgement of profits, order voiding prohibited transactions, removal of breaching fiduciaries, appointment of independent fiduciaries, statutory penalties, attorneys’ fees, costs, and interest.
Potential Class Size: At least 40 participants and beneficiaries in InterArch’s profit sharing plan.
Response: InterArch and Vernon Hill didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Attorneys: Garner Firm Ltd. and Block & Leviton LLP represent the proposed class.
For additional legal resources, visit Bloomberg Law In Focus: Coronavirus (Bloomberg Law Subscription).
The case is McCann v. Hill, D.N.J., No. 1:20-cv-06435, complaint 5/27/20.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jacklyn Wille in Washington at jwille@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rob Tricchinelli at rtricchinelli@bloomberglaw.com; Patrick L. Gregory at pgregory@bloomberglaw.com
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