The Third Circuit affirmed dismissal of plaintiff Nicholas Danza’s claims that Fidelity breached its fiduciary duties and engaged in prohibited transactions by charging excessive service fees for reviewing and qualifying Domestic Relations Orders (DROs) for a 401(k) plan. Danza v. Fidelity Management Trust Co., 2013 WL 3872118 (3d Cir. July 29, 2013) (unpublished). Danza filed suit after Fidelity charged him $1,200 — pursuant to the plan’s fee schedule — to review his non-standard DRO, claiming that this amount was unreasonable and violated ERISA. In rejecting plaintiff’s claims, the Court reasoned that: (i) Fidelity engaged in an arms-length transaction, and not as a fiduciary or party-in-interest, in negotiating its fee arrangement with the plan, and (ii) Fidelity’s fiduciary status was limited to reviewing and qualifying DROs.
