"Under the 'large menu defense'" courts have held that, even assuming a failure to exercise due care in selecting plan options, the employer can nonetheless claim the protection of the employee-control safe harbor under ERISA because, when the plan's menu is sufficiently large, the plan participant is deemed to have exercised legal control over the relevant investment decision.... Research has shown that large 401(k) menus result in lower participation rates, overly conservative allocations, inferior investment options and other adverse effects that, collectively, cost workers billions of dollars every year."

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