Marsh & McLennanCohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll Files Two ERISA Class Action Lawsuits Against Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Cohen Milstein along with co-counsel Pascowitz and Associates and Hanzman & Criden P.A., have filed two lawsuits on behalf of participants in the Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Investment Plan (“The Plan”). The suits, which are likely to be consolidated, allege violations of the federal pension law (ERISA) in connection with the loss of value in Marsh & McLennan stock acquired and held by present and former employees through the Plan. The goal of these lawsuits is to restore losses in Marsh & McLennan stock suffered by the Plan and the accounts of employees in the Plan.
The lawsuits allege that the fiduciaries of the Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Investment Plan violated their fiduciary duties by investing Plan assets in Marsh & McLennan stock from November 1, 1998 to the present, during which time Marsh & McLennan failed to disclose harmful business practices. Specifically, Marsh failed to disclose that a substantial portion of their income was based on “contingent commissions” whereby the Company would be paid to steer business to those that paid said commission and away from those that chose not to. As a result, Marsh & McLennan’s stock may have traded at artificially inflated prices, as demonstrated by the decline in the stock price following the disclosure of these practices. On February 9, 2005, the District Court in New York entered a pretrial order consolidating all Marsh & McLennan ERISA actions and appointing an executive committee to supervise the prosecution of these and other Marsh & McLennan ERISA cases. Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C., was appointed to the executive committee. On April 19, 2005, the District Court in New Jersey entered an order appointing a lead counsel committee to supervise the prosecution of this case. Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. was appointed as a member of the committee. On June 15, 2005, Plaintiffs filed a Consolidated Amended Complaint on the actions. On December 14, 2006, Judge Shirley Wohl Kram entered an order denying the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Consolidated Amended Complaint. The parties are currently engaging in discovery. If you are a current or former employee of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. or a subsidiary who acquired Marsh & McLennan stock through the Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Investment Plan between November 1, 1998 and the present, and you are interested in recovering losses or if you or if you have information which might assist us in the investigation of these allegations or the individuals responsible for the management of this Plan, please contact one of the following persons: Marc I. Machiz, Esq.
Bruce F. Rinaldi, Esq., brinaldi@cmht.com
Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C.
1100 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20005
Telephone: 888-240-0775 or 202-408-4600 |
