Justices make it easier to sue over 401(k) retirement plans

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of participants in employee retirement plans who object to companies’ investment decisions that eat into retirement savings.

The justices on Monday revived claims by current and former employees of energy company Edison International. The employees argued that the company chose mutual funds with excessive fees.

Edison offers employees roughly 40 mutual funds to choose from in deciding how to invest. The case involved a few funds in which the company had chosen higher-cost ones open to the general public instead of identical investments with lower costs that are open only to institutional investors. The Edison employees contend that the company did not act in their best interests by choosing the higher-cost funds.