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Compliance June 29, 2010
Fiduciary Breach Case Filed Too Late
A federal appellate court has ruled that a woman who sued over allegations of a fiduciary breach in connection with her deceased husband’s individual retirement account filed the case too late.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the case against Chase Investment Services Inc. was governed by the three-year statute of limitations in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and not the state of Oklahoma’s five-year limit for breach of contract cases.
Plaintiff Suzanne Russell charged in the suit that Chase committed the ERISA breach by allowing her husband’s lawyer to drain the IRA of funds. Russell knew about the attorney’s actions in July 2005, so the June 2009 lawsuit was filed after the legal deadline in ERISA, the appellate court said.
The case is Russell vs. Chase Investment Services, 10th Circ., No. 10-5016.