Alight Solutions Seeks Summary Judgement in 401(k) Theft Case

Attorneys for Alight Solutions LLC moved for a federal court to terminate without a trial a retirement plan participant’s lawsuit against the firm, claiming Alight was not liable for negligence in its administration of the defined contribution plan for the Colgate-Palmolive Co.

In supporting its motion for summary judgment, Alight Solutions this week claimed the firm never was engaged in a functional fiduciary role by the Colgate-Palmolive Co. defined contribution plan and, therefore, cannot be held liable for the $750,000 in 401(k) assets Paula Disberry lost to fraud.    

“Even with the benefit of discovery, Disberry lacks any evidence to support any of her allegations against Alight,” Alight’s attorneys wrote in the motion. “There still is no evidence that Alight’s operation of a call center and website, maintenance of account information, or control over making changes to account information was anything but ministerial.”

Alight contended that Disberry’s counsel has presented insufficient evidence to show that any actions by Alight or its personnel comprised fiduciary acts under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. It added that no evidence has been presented to show that Alight’s distribution of Disberry’s assets was a fiduciary action and that Alight followed reasonable security measures to protect retirement plan participant’s assets from theft or fraud.

Colgate contracted Alight Solutions in 2017 to provide “certain administrative services to Colgate in support of the Plan,” rather than serving in a fiduciary capacity to the Colgate-Palmolive Co. plan, according to the motion. The operating “Master Services Agreement between Alight and Colgate that delineated Alight’s obligations to Colgate clearly states that Alight did not have any discretionary authority, control, or responsibility regarding the Plan assets, or any actions Alight took in administering the Plan. And the record evidence of this case does not show that Alight exercised any discretion or independent control regarding any aspect of the Plan.”

Alight’s request that the lawsuit be closed followed attorneys for Disberry submitting their own motion for summary judgment, one week earlier.  

The case, Disberry v. Employee Relations Committee of the Colgate-Palmolive Co. et al., is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The original complaint included the Bank of New York Mellon Corp., which mailed a check for Disberry’s balance to a fraudulent address in September 2020, but its motion to dismiss the claim, on the basis it did not act as a fiduciary for the plan, was granted in December 2022.

Disberry is represented by the law offices of Renaker Scott LLP and the law offices of Brustein Law PLLC. Alight is represented by attorneys with Groom Law Group and Jenner & Block LLP.

Representatives for neither Alight Solutions nor Disberry responded to requests for comment.