Groom principal and co-chair of the firm’s litigation group, William Delany, spoke with Law360 about anticipated Supreme Court activity in the benefits area, in the article “Benefits Attys Lock In On High Court As 2026 Gets Underway.” Delany’s comments focused on the importance of a petition for certiorari filed by Parker-Hannifin Corp. related to allegations that it offered underperforming funds in its 401(k) plan. A Supreme Court decision in this case “could clarify the standards for ERISA fiduciary breach litigation.”
The petition stems from a November 2024 decision by a split Sixth Circuit panel that revived claims brought by a group of workers who alleged in a 2021 lawsuit that Parker-Hannifin breached “its fiduciary duties by allowing its retirement plan to host expensive and underperforming target-date funds.” A central issue raised by this case is whether and to what extent “workers’ investment fund challenges [need] to be backed up with benchmark data showing that comparable investment funds performed better.” The solicitor general and the U.S. Department of Labor have filed a brief supporting Parker-Hannifin’s petition and urging the Court to rule in the company’s favor.
Delany, who is “watching the petition and took note the DOL’s amicus brief,” commented that “the pleading requirements for challenges alleging investment underperformance will be a paramount issue in ERISA litigation this year.” He continued, “’I think it’s literally the biggest thing that we need to be watching in the 401(k) space [in 2026], and it’s probably going to be in the form of what happens in this Parker-Hannifin cert petition.’”
To read the article, click here.
