A New York district court granted certification in an ERISA
class action brought by employees of Deutsche Bank alleging the
individual fiduciaries of the company's retirement plan engaged
in self-dealing and mismanagement of its 401K plan. The court
certified the class under Rule 23(b)(1)(B), which authorizes class
actions when prosecuting separate actions would create a risk of
decisions that would be dispositive of the interest of other
members not parties to the individual adjudications or that would
substantially impair or impede their ability to protect their
interest.
Specifically, plaintiffs maintained that defendants breached
their fiduciary duties of care and loyalty by offering plan
participants an unlawful menu of investments, steering plan
investments into underperforming investments that benefited the
bank, and charging excessive fees. Plaintiffs sought monetary
relief in the form of reimbursement to the plan for all losses
incurred as a result of the
