What gets an employer (or plan trustee) sued?

[Peter Gulia]

Concerning a small-business defined-contribution retirement plan that provides participant-directed investment, what (in your experience) is the "top five" things that can go wrong that get the employer (in its role as the plan's administrator) or the plan's trustee stuck answering a court proceeding?

(For this query, leave out IRS and EBSA administrative enforcement, and consider only something that results in court proceedings in which a plan's administrator or trustee is some kind of defendant.)

[Ron Snyder]

What, no takers?

1. Divorce of employee or owner;

2. Prohibited transaction;

3. Investment losses;

4. Splitting of plans with transfers;

5. Attempted termination of underfunded plans.

[MoJo]

It's simple:

1) not paying attention to investments

2) not paying attention to fees

3) not paying attention to the plan document/plan terms

4) not paying attention to Code or ERISA mandated [_fill in the blank_(i.e. disclosures) ]

5) not paying attention to thier service providers (who (hopefully) know the rules)

I detect a pattern.....

[Peter Gulia]

vebaguru and MoJo, thanks for the help.

vebaguru, do divorces of other participants get a trustee dragged into court proceedings, or is it just about a divorce of the employer's owner (so that the participant and the trustee might happen to be the same person)?