Employee stock ownership plans (“ESOPs”) are a valuable tool for businesses to create a succession plan and provide retirement benefits to employees by having employees purchase employer stock. Although self-interested transactions are generally prohibited under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), ESOPs are encouraged under ERISA despite the fact that the plans

The Supreme Court decisions in Dudenhoeffer (2014) and Amgen (2016) made it more difficult, as a practical matter, for plaintiffs to bring ERISA duty of prudence claims involving employer stock. In the ensuing years, every stock drop complaint filed by ERISA plan participants around the country was dismissed for failure to allege facts satisfying Dudenhoeffer