Distribution Didn't Happen - probably an easy answer

Terminated participant, instructions sent to brokerage firm to pay out said participant.  The payout didn't happen, and participant is asking for earnings on top of the original distribution amount.

Is there a standard for how to calculate "lost earnings"?  Should the brokerage firm have standards that would dictate this answer?

Thanks all!

Is the plan pooled or participant directed? How often are valuations done?

Participant-directed accounts.  The brokerage firm isn't able to see what this particular gentleman was invested in at that time.  

I agree with you about their not being able to see what he was invested in. 😂 

Thanks Bill!  I appreciate your replies.

I'm a little confused if the distribution is still in his individual account didn't he get the gain/(loss) by the funds remaining in his account?

Or were the funds liquidated but he never got the check which may or may not have been sent to him?

If it's the former then I don't see that he has much of a claim, if it's the later the fund house is likely to simply stop payment on the original check and reissue likely without earnings.

Thank you for the reply Lou.  Turns out, his balance had been sent to the Forfeiture account by mistake.  The financial institution's mistake because of the way they showed his vesting.

The details have become more 'involved', so I won't bore anyone with the details now.  It's currently a battle between me and the financial institution about whether or not the vesting was correct in their system at time of original payout.  It's not usually simple, is it?!  But, if things were simple, I wouldn't have a career in this field!  😄