News

Bank of New York and Callan Associates

McTigue & Porter Files Class Action Lawsuit

Against California Pension Advisor & N.Y. Brokerage

McTigue & Porter LLP filed a class action lawsuit alleging that pension investment consultant Callan Associates, Inc. violated federal pension law by failing to disclose a contractual relationship under which Callan received payments for steering business to the brokerage arm of the Bank of New York Mellon.

Callan Associates (Callan) is a pension consulting firm headquartered in San Francisco. Callan is one of the largest pension investment advisors in the United States. Callan’s clients include hundreds of private pension and retirement plans who contract with Callan for a variety of services, including advice on how, with whom, and through which brokers to invest the pension plans’ assets. Bank of New York Mellon is a financial services conglomerate, providing banking, brokerage and other services.

In 1998, Bank of New York bought Callan’s brokerage division, Alpha Management Inc., and integrated it into its own brokerage subsidiary, later renamed BNY Brokerage. The Complaint alleges that, under the terms of that deal, “Callan repeatedly recommended BNY Brokerage to its pension plan clients because Callan received kickbacks from BNY Defendants for steering clients to BNY Brokerage.”

The complaint further alleges that Callan was obligated to disclose the terms of its arrangement with BNY brokerage to Callan’s private pension plan clients. The failure to do this, it is alleged, constitutes a breach of its fiduciary duties and violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal law governing the management of pension plans.

The case, Beane v. Bank of New York Mellon, et al., 07-09444, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan.

federal mogul corporation

$12.75 Million Settlement Reached in federal mogul ERISA Litigation

July 13, 2007 — United States District Court Judge Avern Cohn today granted final court approval to a $12.75 million settlement in Sherrill v. Federal Mogul Corp. Retirement Programs Committee, et al. The settlement will be used to offset financial losses suffered by participants in and beneficiaries of the Federal Mogul Corporation Salaried Employees Investment Plan. McTigue & Porter LLP served as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the suit.

The Complaint in the the Federal Mogul ERISA litigation was filed in 2003 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The case was subsequently transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. In the Complaint Plaintiffs alleged that participants in the Federal Mogul Corporation Salaried Employees Investment Plan suffered significant financial losses as a consequence of mismanagement of the Plan by Federal Mogul during the period preceding the auto parts manufacturer's Bankruptcy. Federal Mogul filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2001.

GENERAL MOTORS INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Company (gmimcO)

Mctigue & Porter files ERisa class action on behalf of gm 401(K) PLAN PARTICIPANTS

March 8, 2007 – McTigue & Porter LLP filed an ERISA class action lawsuit on behalf of participants in 401(k) plans sponsored by General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM).

The Complaint in Young v. General Motors Investment Management Company, et al (o7-Civ-1994 BSJ), filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, names the plans' investment managers, General Motors Investment Management Company (GMIMCo) and State Street Bank & Trust Co. (State Street) as defendants. GMIMCo, part of General Motors Asset Management and a GM subsidiary, is responsible for selecting plan investments and investment managers for GM plans. State Street manages several funds in which the GM Plans lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Plaintiffs make three claims. First, GMIMCo, which manages more than $11.5 billion on behalf of over 250,000 participants in GM's 401(k) plans, invested retirement savings in risky funds that invested exclusively in the stock of a single company, one of which was Delphi Corp., now bankrupt. Second, State Street mismanaged these risky, single-equity funds. And third, GMIMCo caused the plan to invest billions of dollars in mutual funds that charged excessive fees to the plans and participants.

As a consequence of these questionable investments, the plaintiffs allege that GMIMCo and State Street violated the federal law that regulates pension investment, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and cost the plans and plan participants hundreds of millions of dollars of lost retirement savings.

If you are (or were within the past six years) a participant in a GM 401(k) plan and want to learn more about this lawsuit, please contact Gregory Y. Porter at 202-364-6900, or submit an e-mail request for information.

Owens Corning

ERISA Class Action lawsuit filed

September 1, 2006 – McTigue & Porter LLP has filed an ERISA Class Action lawsuit on behalf of participants in two retirement plans sponsored by Owens Corning. The suit alleges that Defendants breached their fiduciary duties to the plans and their participants by making imprudent investments in Owens Corning Common Stock, which was offered as an investment option and used to make matching contributions to participant accounts. Owens Corning declared bankruptcy in 2000 and is expected to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization later this year. The suit, Brown v. Owens Corning Investment Review Committee, et al, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. For more information, see this article featured in the Toledo Blade or contact the firm.

CMS Energy corporation

$28 Million Settlement Reached in CMS Energy Corporation ERISA Litigation

May 1, 2006 — United States District Court Judge George Caram Steeh has granted preliminary court approval of a $28 million settlement in the CMS ERISA Litigation. The settlement will be used to offset financial losses suffered by plaintiffs in the suit. McTigue & Porter LLP (formerly the McTigue Law Firm) served as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

Notice of the settlement was mailed to plaintiffs on May 1, 2006, and a final Fairness Hearing will be held on June 15, 2006. At that time, Judge Steeh will determine whether to grant final approval of the settlement.

The Complaint In re CMS Energy ERISA Litigation was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in July of 2002 on behalf of a “Class” of Plaintiffs comprised of participants and beneficiaries of the Employees’ Savings Plan of Consumers Energy Company. The Complaint alleges that Savings Plan participants suffered significant financial losses as a consequence of mismanagement of the Plan by CMS and a failure by its designated fiduciaries to fulfill their duties under federal pension law, including:

failing to prudently and loyally manage the Plan’s assets;
failing to provide participants with complete and accurate information regarding CMS stock sufficient to advise participants of the true risks of investing their retirement savings; and,
failing to properly monitor the performance of their fiduciary appointees, and remove and replace those whose performance was inadequate.

For details regarding the settlement and the rights of class members, please see the attached notices. To contact us regarding this or any other matter, please go here.

CMS Settlement Summary.pdf
CMS Settlement Notice.pdf
CMS Fee Petition.pdf
Amended Plan of Allocation.pdf
Order & Final Judgement.pdf