19 Employee Benefits Cas. 2351, Pens. Plan Guide P 23915t Ernest L. Akers v. Valfrid E. Palmer Alco Gravure Industries, Inc., Donald H. McKinnon

RYAN, Circuit Judge.

This is a consolidated appeal of two cases brought under the fiduciary provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1104 and 1106(b) (ERISA). Plaintiffs challenged certain corporate board actions leading to the creation and initial funding of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for the benefit of the employees of Aleo Gravure, Inc. (Aleo). Plaintiffs claimed that Aleo’s founding board members engaged in self-dealing by purchasing all of the company’s outstanding shares of common stock at a price well below the stock’s market value,…