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Date: 11-12-2024
Case Style:
Eric Romano and Todd Romano v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company
Case Number: 1:19-CV-21147
Judge: Jose A. Gonzalez, Jr.
Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Miami-Dade County)
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney: Not Available
Description:
Miami, Florida employment law lawyer represent the Plaintiffs who sued on an E.R.I.S.A. law theory.
“The aim of ERISA is ‘to make the plaintiffs whole, but not
to give them a windfall.’” Henry v. Champlain Enters., Inc., 445 F.3d
610, 624 (2d Cir. 2006) (Sotomayor, J.) (quoting Jones v. Unum Life
Ins. Co. of Am., 223 F.3d 130, 139 (2d Cir. 2000)). The question in
this case is whether, under the fiduciary duty provision of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29
U.S.C. § 1109(a), the value of certain foreign tax credits received by
John Hancock should have been passed through to a class of de-
fined-contribution plans. Eric and Todd Romano, as class repre-
sentatives and the trustees of the Romano Law, PL 401(k) Plan,
contend that they should have been, and because they were not,
John Hancock breached its fiduciary duties under ERISA.
* * *
John Hancock is an insurance company. Among other
things, it provides investment and recordkeeping services to 401(k)
retirement plans. One such retirement plan is the Romano Law,
PL 401(k) Plan (the “Romano Law Plan”), for which Eric and Todd
Romano act as trustees. The Romanos established the Romano
Law Plan for themselves and the employees of their jointly-owned
law firm, Romano Law, PL. To do so, they engaged a financial
advisor, Christian Searcy, Jr., to recommend service providers and
investments. On the advice of Mr. Searcy, Jr., the Romanos con-
tracted with John Hancock and entered into a “Signature” platform
group variable annuity contract, which made a menu of invest-
ment options available for the Romano Law Plan and its partici-
pants. The Romanos also executed a recordkeeping agreement, un-
der which John Hancock agreed to provide administrative and
recordkeeping services.
Outcome: Affirmed
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: