FMC Defeats Lawsuit Over Sequoia Fund Investment in 401(k) Plan

FMC Corp. and its executives defeated a lawsuit accusing them of violating federal benefits law by allowing millions of dollars in 401(k) assets to be invested in the Sequoia Fund and the stock of drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The workers’ allegation—that FMC and its executives breached their fiduciary duties to monitor plan investments and remove alleged imprudent ones—fails to state that offering the undiversified Sequoia Fund violated the plan documents and federal benefits law, Judge Berle M. Schiller held March 16. This is so because, contrary to the workers’ allegations, both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the ...