"Previously, under the presumption of prudence, ESOP fiduciaries were granted additional protections so long as the governing plan documents gave them the right to invest in employer stock and they invested consistent with the plan documents. Now their job is harder, in that they need to make sure that the decisions are actually prudent. The plan documents cannot waive this obligation. The value of [the Dudenhoeffer decision], especially for national companies that might be subject to such lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions, is that it provides clarity by resolving a previous circuit split."

MORE >>