Jerry Schlichter Interviewed by NPR’s “All Things Considered” About Case on Behalf of MIT Employees and Retirees

NPR interviewed Jerry Schlichter for a piece on its national “All Things Considered” broadcast regarding an ERISA class action against the Massachussetts Institute of Technology handled by Schlichter Bogard & Denton on behalf of MIT employees and retirees.  The lawsuit, set for trial in September 2019, alleges that MIT allowed excessive fees to be charged to participants in its 401(k) plan, and included underperforming and high cost investments.

The filings in the case detail how Fidelity received millions of dollars of excessive payments from MIT’s 401(k) Plan and how MIT made those payments to Fidelity, in part because of an expectation that Abigail Johnson, Fidelity’s CEO and co-owner, through the Johnson family, would make a donation to MIT.

An MIT dean said in a 2015 email that “If we’re not switching to Vanguard or TIAA-CREF, I am going to expect something big and good coming to MIT from the Johnson family.” Soon after that exchange, Fidelity donated $5 million to MIT. MIT “egregiously failed” to act exclusively in the best interest of its employees and retirees in administering the 401(k) plan, said Schlichter, managing partner of Schlichter Bogard & Denton.

The NPR piece may be found here. Additional recent articles regarding the MIT litigation on behalf of MIT employees and retirees may be found here and here. For further information about Schlichter Bogard & Denton’s ERISA and Financial Abuse practice, please contact Schlichter Bogard & Denton at 1-800-873-5297 or sbd@uselaws.com.