Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Files $28 Million ERISA Representative Action Against Parsons Financial Corporation

Plan Fiduciaries Retained a Poorly Performing Fund for Over 14 Years

CHANTILLY, Va., July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight filed a $28 Million Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia alleging that Parsons Financial Corporation and its fiduciaries violated ERISA by keeping a poorly performing fund in its retirement savings plan for more than a decade.

According to the Complaint, Parsons failed to act prudently when it decided to keep one of the worst performing large cap blend funds in the entire market, the Nuveen Dividend Growth Fund, in its 401 (k) retirement savings plan. The Complaint alleges that the Nuveen Dividend Growth Fund lagged behind its stated benchmark and experienced significant outflows of cash. As a result, the Complaint alleges that the failure to remove this fund could only be the result of a process marred by improper care, skill, and diligence expected of plan fiduciaries.

The Nuveen Dividend Growth Fund has underperformed since it was added to Parsons retirement savings plan in 2012, according to the Complaint. From January 1, 2012, through June 30, 2020, the Nuveen Fund underperformed the S&P 500 by over 46% (194.20% v. 147.44%), costing the Plan approximately $18,200,000 in retirement savings. The Nuveen Dividend Growth Fund performed starkly worse after that, as alleged in the Complaint. From July 1, 2020, to December 31, 2025, the Nuveen Dividend Growth Fund substantially lagged the S&P 500 by more than 37 percentage points. As a result, the Complaint alleges Parsons’ plan lost over $28 million in earnings.

“Employees expect their retirement plans to set them up for a successful retirement. Parsons failed the plan by failing to remove the disastrous Nuveen Dividend Growth Fund,” said Charles Field, Co-Chair of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight’s Financial Mismanagement and ERISA Litigation Practice Group and counsel for Plaintiff and the proposed class. “It is disappointing to see fiduciaries fail to act when faced with obvious, objective financial performance data.”

Kristi Stahnke McGregor, Of Counsel at Sanford Heisler who also represents the Plaintiff in this representative action, added, “The harm to the Parsons retirement savings plan is not just about the sheer financial losses, but it’s also about eroding the trust of workers.”

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight has filed the Parsons ERISA Complaint on the heels of several significant ERISA class settlements in 2024 and 2025. In 2025, the firm obtained final approval of a record $69 million settlement in its multi-year class action against UnitedHealth Group. In 2024, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, together with co-counsel, also obtained final approval of a $61 million settlement in a long-running ERISA class action against General Electric. The UnitedHealth and GE settlements were among the most significant ERISA settlements in recent years. They were also among the highest value settlements ever in cases involving allegedly poor-performing plan investments.

About Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight is a public interest and civil rights law firm with offices in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Nashville, and San Diego. The firm focuses on executive representation, wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wage theft and overtime violations, whistleblower and qui tam, sexual violence, Title IX violations and victims’ rights, financial mismanagement and ERISA litigation, and Asian American litigation and finance matters. Our lawyers have recovered over $5 billion for our clients through many verdicts and settlements.

In 2024, Forbes named Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Chairman and Co-Founder David Sanford to its inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers. The National Law Journal has selected Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight as Civil Rights Firm of the Year, and it has recognized the firm as both Employment Rights Firm of the Year and Human Rights Firm of the Year. Benchmark Litigation has named the firm Labor & Employment Firm of the Year, and Law360 has recognized the firm as Employment Practice Group of the Year.

For the latest news about Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, visit the firm’s newsroom or follow the firm on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.

If you have potential legal claims and are seeking counsel, please call 646-768-7070 or email david.sanford@sanfordheisler.com. Attorneys at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight would like to have the opportunity to help you.

Media Contact: Jamie Moss, newsPRos, at 201-788-0142 or Jamie@newspros.com.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.