Kopp v. Klein

722 F.3d 327, 56 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2757, 2013 WL 3449866, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 13879
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJuly 9, 2013
DocketNo. 12-10416
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 722 F.3d 327 (Kopp v. Klein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kopp v. Klein, 722 F.3d 327, 56 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2757, 2013 WL 3449866, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 13879 (5th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

Randy Kopp (“Kopp”), an employee of Ideare, Inc. (“Ideare”) and a participant in the Ideare Management Plan (“Plan”),1 brought this Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) class action against various members of Idearc’s board of directors and Idearc’s officers, the Plan Benefits Committee, and the Human Resources Committee (“Ideare Defendants”), representing all current and former participants in the Plan for whose individual accounts the Plan purchased or held shares of the Ideare Stock Fund (“Fund”) from November 21, 2006, through March 31, 2009 (the “Class Period”). The district court dismissed Kopp’s complaint alleging various breaches of fiduciary duty under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. We AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal of all of Kopp’s claims.

I

Kopp filed a complaint alleging the Ideare Defendants breached their fiduciary duties to the plan participants. The district court dismissed Kopp’s original complaint without prejudice for failure to state a claim, but granted Kopp’s motion to file an amended complaint. Kopp’s amended complaint claimed seven bases for relief. Counts I and IV alleged the [331]*331Ideare Defendants violated a fiduciary duty by allowing plan participants to buy and hold Ideare stock when it was no longer prudent to do so. Count II alleged the Ideare Defendants violated ERISA fiduciary duties by making materially inaccurate representations and failing to disclose material information about the Fund. Count V alleged the Ideare Defendants breached a fiduciary duty to appoint, inform, and monitor the Benefits Committee and Members of the Benefits Committee. Count VI alleged the Ideare Defendants breached co-fiduciary duties. Counts III and VII alleged the Ideare Defendants breached fiduciary duties to avoid divided loyalties and conflicts of interest.2

The Plan is an Eligible Individual Account Plan (“EIAP”) under ERISA. This action concerns the Fund, held as a retirement investment in the Plan. Participants could contribute to the Plan and direct their contributions to one or more of the Plan’s investment options. The Plan Administrator and the Benefits Committee were the fiduciaries of the Plan. The Plan documents included the Summary Plan Descriptions and the Trust Agreement. The Plan specified that, barring prohibition by ERISA § 406 or 407, Ideare stock would be an investment option until it was “removed by plan amendment” and that the Company stock fund “shall be invested principally in Company Shares.” The Plan documents stated:

The selection and timing of your investment choices are solely your responsibility and investment returns are not guaranteed by the Company. In other words, since you select how your account balance is invested among the available options, you are responsible for losses which are the direct and necessary result of your investment instructions.

(emphasis added).

In November 2006 Verizon Communication, Inc. (“Verizon”) spun off its directory operations in a tax-free distribution of stock in Ideare. Under a tax sharing agreement between Verizon and Ideare, Ideare was precluded from restructuring debt, issuing equity, merging with another company, or consolidating or disposing of a significant portion of Idearc’s assets for a period of two years after the tax-free exchange in order to retain the tax-free status of the spin-off from Verizon.

According to public documents and information gathered from confidential witnesses, Kopp alleged because the Ideare Defendants wanted to preserve the tax-free status of the spin-off, the Ideare Officer Defendants reported that Ideare was generating sufficient cash flow and liquidity to manage its staggering debt, even though they knew the volume of past due receivables had mushroomed and Ideare had eliminated a great deal of collection staff, greatly decreasing its ability to collect from overdue accounts.3 Amended Complaint at ¶ 132, Fulmer v. Klein, 3:09-CV-02354-N (N.D.Tex. Mar. 16, 2011) (hereinafter “Complaint”). According to confidential witnesses, Ideare management continued to bill customers that had already canceled their advertising, knowing that the fictitious invoices were uncolleet[332]*332ible, and recorded fictitious revenue by generating false invoices to former, current, and non-existent customers. Id. ¶ 152. Management “materially overstated net receivables, operating revenue, cash flow, and net income by failing to adjust the provision for uncollectible accounts receivable based upon its knowledge of the deterioration of the quality of [Idearc’s] customers and the fictitious billing.” Id. ¶ 152(f). Prior to the Class Period, Ideare required a credit check on all accounts generating more than $450 in fees. Id. ¶ 66. During the course of the Class Period, this minimum credit threshold increased almost 100% to $850. Id. Aware that the bad debt levels were rising, Defendant Harless, Ideare Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Benefits Committee Member, and Defendant Coticchio, Ideare Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Benefits Committee member,4 took affirmative measures to alter Idearc’s books to reflect a lower level of bad debt receivables, including, in April 2007, instructing employees to move three million dollars of doubtful accounts to accounts receivable. Id. ¶ 69. Because Idearc’s tax-free status precluded debt restructuring, the Ideare Defendants were aware Ideare had no financing flexibility and thus no means to deal with its massive debt. Id. ¶ 134. By August 2007, the Ideare Defendants were aware that “due to the rapidly increasing build-up of uncollectible receivables a liquidity crisis (resulting in an inability to meet obligations as they came due) was imminent.” Id. ¶ 162(g).

Throughout the Class Period, the Ideare Defendants were aware that Idearc’s bad debt expense was rapidly increasing. Id. ¶ 189. As of June 2008, Idearc’s bad debt had “increased by $16 million, or 50.0%, compared to $32 million for the three months ended June 30, 2007.” Id. As of October 30, 2008, Ideare announced further growth in its provision rate for bad debt, leading to a stock price decline of 36%. Id. ¶ 196. That month, Ideare faced a possible de-listing from the NYSE for its low stock price over a 30-day period and resorted to borrowing $247 million from a revolving credit facility. Id. ¶ 194-195. Ideare began considering a reverse stock split or other options to maintain its listing. Id. On November 17, 2008, Ideare closed the fund that allowed plan participants to invest new money in Ideare stock. Id. ¶4. In December 2008 the Benefits Committee voted to liquidate all holdings in Ideare stock, but subsequently cancelled the scheduled liquidation. Id. ¶ 117.

On March 12, 2009, after the two-year period following the Verizon spin-off was complete, Ideare disclosed that it was in danger of defaulting on its loans. Id. ¶ 203. In the event of default, the lenders could “declare the total secured debt outstanding to be due and payable and upon acceleration, the Company’s unsecured notes would also become due and payable.” Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
722 F.3d 327, 56 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2757, 2013 WL 3449866, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 13879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kopp-v-klein-ca5-2013.