Perez v. Bruister, 5/3/16
February 2, 2017
The record supported the district court’s determination that individuals who were appointed to manage an employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”), that was established by a closely-held corporation, violated 29 U.S.C.S. §§ 1104 and 1106 when they purchased stock from an LLC the corporation’s owner created for more than fair market value. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it awarded the ESOP $4,504,605 as “equitable restitution” instead of rescinding the stock purchases as the Secretary of Labor requested, or when it enjoined the fiduciaries from serving as fiduciaries or service providers to other ERISA-covered plans. The district court’s judgments in favor of the Secretary and plan participants would be consolidated to make it clear that the court had not exposed the fiduciaries and other defendants to double recovery. The appellate court affirmed the district court’s judgments but modified the trial court?s concurrent judgments into a single judgment that disposed of both cases.