Kennedy v. Aegis Media Americas, Inc.

Background

This putative class action arises under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, a federal law governing employee benefit plans. Stacey Parks Kennedy, Angela Bozell, and Brittney Williams alleged that Aegis Media Americas, Inc., the Board of Directors of Aegis Media Americas, Inc., and the Plan Investment Committee breached their fiduciary duty of prudence to the BenefitsPlus 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and its participants. The plaintiffs also alleged that Aegis and the Board failed to monitor the Committee’s activities.

The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in November 2020. The court later denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss. On July 6, 2023, the plaintiffs moved for class certification. The parties then agreed to certification of a class, but the court independently evaluated whether the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 were met.

Class-Certification Requirements

The court found that the plaintiffs satisfied Rule 23’s requirements. For numerosity, the court relied on the identification of up to 11,775 potential class members and found that joining all members individually would be impractical.

For commonality, the court found common questions about whether the defendants breached ERISA’s duty of prudence by selecting and monitoring the Plan’s investment options and by monitoring compensation for recordkeeping and administrative services.

For typicality, the court noted that the proposed representatives had accounts in the Plan during the proposed class period, held at least one challenged investment option, and allegedly paid excessive recordkeeping and administrative fees. The court found that the representatives and other class members allegedly suffered similar harm from the claimed fiduciary breaches.

For adequacy of representation, the court found that the named plaintiffs’ legal and financial interests aligned with those of the class. The plaintiffs submitted declarations describing their understanding of their responsibilities, and they represented that their counsel had no conflicts and would vigorously prosecute the action. The court concluded that these circumstances satisfied the adequacy requirement.

Order

Judge Gregory H. Woods granted the plaintiffs’ unopposed motion for class certification. The certified class consists of all people, except the defendants and their immediate family members, who were participants in or beneficiaries of the Plan at any time from May 8, 2014, through the date of judgment.

The court appointed Stacey Parks Kennedy, Angela Bozell, and Brittney Williams as class representatives and appointed Capozzi Adler, P.C. as class counsel. The order also stated that nothing in it should be treated as abandoning or limiting any claim or defense, and directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the pending class-certification motion.