Linda White v. Marshall & Ilsley Corporation

HAMILTON, Circuit Judge.

When financier J. Pierpont Morgan was asked what the stock market would do, he answered, according to Wall Street legend, “It will fluctuate.” Sometimes it fluctuates a lot, as the sponsor of the retirement savings plan in this case understood well. This case is about how federal law applies to such fluctuations in the value of an employee stock ownership plan.

This case is one in a series alleging that fiduciaries of employee retirement savings plans acted imprudently by allowing employees to choose to buy and hold an employer’s stock while it declined significantly in…