Reply #36: Wal-Mart slams suit claiming its 401(k) fees are over the top

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http://financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080718/REG/702504488

Wal-Mart, hit with a class-action lawsuit that claims fees in its $9.9 billion

401(k) plan are excessive, has fired back. In a 35-page response to the original complaint, the company claims the employees’ allegations are little more than “mere speculation” and lack any real substance.

According to Wal-Mart’s filing, the suit’s “myopic focus on the fees charged by the Plan’s investment options—without regard to the roles that these fees play in the overall costs of administering the Plan—ignores the economics of participant-directed individual account plans.”

Wal-Mart also claims that “ERISA does not require plan fiduciaries to consider only ‘price’ in selecting investment options, much less to select the least expensive alternative available.”

The original complaint against Wal-Mart was filed in March, led by employee Jeremy Braden. Like many of the roughly dozen other lawsuits filed against large plan sponsors since late 2006, the suit against Wal-Mart claims it violated its duty as a fiduciary by offering costly funds in its 401(k).