Plaintiffs v Trustees of the General Retirement System
Judge Declares Suit Against Pension Funds A Class Action
Wayne County Circuit Judge Amy P. Hathaway refused to dismiss three lawsuits alleging the trustees of Detroit's two public pension plans squandered city workers' retirement money by investing in questionable deals that later failed, costing the funds tens of millions of dollars.
Hathaway declared one of the cases a class action against trustees of the General Retirement System, investment adviser Adrian Anderson and his company, North Point Advisors. She named John Conway and Gerard Mantese's law firms lead counsel.
Lawyers for the trustees of both boards argued they had government immunity from such lawsuits, so employees and retirees who filed the complaints had no standing to sue.
"The trustees believe they are unaccountable, and the court has ruled otherwise," Conway said. "The court recognized that the pension fund is held for the benefit of the 9,000 participants and that the trustees owe the participants a duty of utmost loyalty and caring for the funds."
Conway and Mantese sued after the Free Press reported the two funds lost at least $90 million in three deals that Anderson vetted and that other investments appeared risky.
Mantese said he believes the case is the first nationally in which a class action has been approved to "challenge egregious investment decisions of public pension plan trustees."
Detroit lawyer Chuck Chomet has filed similar suits against both boards on behalf of workers and retirees.
For more information please contact:
John Conway
399 Park Avenue
12th Floor
New York, NY 10022
tel: 212-893-6331
toll free: 866-283-1808
fax: 212-893-6301
or
Gerard Mantese
1361 Big Beaver Rd.
Troy, MI 48083
248 457-9200
248 457-9201
