Employment — ERISA

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Employment — ERISA

ERISA fiduciaries of employee retirement savings plans did not act imprudently by allowing employees to choose to buy and hold an employer’s stock while it declined significantly in price.

“The plaintiffs’ allegations do not state a viable claim for breach of ERISA’s fiduciary duty of prudence during the proposed class period. The M&I fiduciaries did not violate ERISA by complying with the terms of the Plan by continuing to offer the M&I Stock Fund as an investment option during M&I’s 54 percent decline in stock price, a decline that was not extraordinary but was instead consistent with the rest of the stock market. Offering the fund did not expose the participants to excessive risk, given the flexibility that the Plan gave participants to direct their own investments among a variety of investment options.”

Affirmed.

11-2660 White v. Marshall & Ilsley Corp.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Stadtmueller, J., Hamilton, J.