Big Law Business-

Wells Fargo & Co. is once again in the crosshairs of a proposed class action challenging the in-house investment funds in the company’s 401(k) plan.

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 17 in a Minnesota federal court, accuses the banking giant of filling its 401(k) plan with expensive and poorly performing investment funds that earned fees for Wells Fargo. The company is also accused of failing to use its “enormous size” as the third-largest 401(k) plan in the country—with nearly $40 billion in assets at one point—to negotiate for lower fees ( Wayman v. Wells Fargo & Co. , D. Minn., No. 0:17-cv-05153-PJS-KMM, complaint filed 11/17/17 ).

The claims echo those in a 2016 lawsuit that Wells Fargo defeated when a federal judge determined that the company couldn’t be liable under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act for “failing to choose the cheapest fund” for its 401(k) plan. That decision is currently on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where Wells Fargo has received support from industry groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

[BIG LAW BUSINESS]

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