Argent Trust Gets Fast Appeal of ERISA Stock Plan Representation

Argent Trust Co. can immediately appeal a decision allowing an employee stock ownership plan participant to seek plan-wide relief for an allegedly improper transaction despite being denied class status.

Judge Michael M. Mihm on Tuesday granted the company’s request to immediately appeal his 2023 decision authorizing a former Morton Buildings Inc. employee to seek relief against Argent on behalf of the company’s stock plan for a 2017 transaction. Argent criticized this “unprecedented” decision as an improper end-run around the federal rules governing class actions, saying it marked the first time a court has allowed a “conflicted plaintiff” to bring representative ...