Federal judge certifies class for ESG suit against American Airlines (2024)
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A federal judge in Texas on May 22 certified the plaintiffs in a suit against American Airlines as a class for litigation. The suit centers on the investment of airline pension funds in ESG products:
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A pilot suing American Airlines Inc. over its 401(k) plan’s alleged ties to investments focused on environmental, social, and corporate governance goals won a court order certifying the case as a class action covering as many as 100,000 people. American argued that the case’s legal theory—that the airline wrongly offered funds managed companies that pursue ESG policy goals through proxy voting and shareholder activism—couldn’t be resolved on a class-wide basis because it requires a “proxy vote-by-proxy vote analysis.” Judge Reed O’Connor disagreed in an order issued Wednesday, saying the class members’ alleged injuries “flow from a common set of facts” and their potential damages can be calculated on a class-wide basis…. The lawsuit by American pilot Bryan Spence says the airline’s $26 billion 401(k) plan improperly favored ESG funds and invested billions with BlackRock Inc., which he describes as a proponent of the investment strategy. It’s one of the first private-sector lawsuits to argue that a retirement plan fiduciary breached its duties by pursuing ESG investments—those aimed at promoting socially conscious goals—at the expense of workers’ financial interests.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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