Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Files $70+ Million ERISA Class Action Case Against BLOOMBERG, L.P. on Behalf of More Than 20,000 Retirement Plan Participants

Suit alleges Bloomberg breached fiduciary duties by retaining underperforming funds for over a decade

NEW YORK, Jan. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight filed a $70+ million ERISA class action complaint today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that alleges retirement plan mismanagement by Bloomberg, L.P. (“Bloomberg”) and other fiduciaries of Bloomberg’s 401(k) Plan.

According to the allegations in the Complaint, Bloomberg failed to remove two funds from its Plan – the Harbor Capital Appreciation Fund and the Parnassus Core Equity Fund – even after those funds suffered from poor investment performance for over a decade.

The Harbor Capital Appreciation Fund suffered sixteen years of underperformance, as compared to the fund’s market benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index, and other comparable large-cap growth funds. The Parnassus Core Equity Fund suffered a decade of underperformance, as compared to the fund’s market benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and other comparable large-cap core funds. Faced with this type of persistent, long-term poor performance, the Complaint asserts that Bloomberg should have removed the two Funds years ago. Instead, Bloomberg has kept them in the Plan allegedly costing Bloomberg employees and retirees millions in retirement savings.

Plan participants invested over $437 million of their retirement savings in the Harbor Fund and over $59 million in the Parnassus as of the end of 2024. Through these actions, Bloomberg and the Plans’ fiduciaries breached ERISA’s fiduciary duties of prudence.

The named plaintiff Rajkumar Rajappan filed this case on behalf of the Bloomberg Plan, which has approximately 20,000 participants and beneficiaries and over $5 billion in assets. Named as Defendants are Bloomberg, L.P., the Bloomberg Investment Committee and its members, the Retirement Plan Committee and its members.

“Cases like this one against Bloomberg are an important tool for protecting the hard-earned retirement savings of employees and ensuring continuing positive change in retirement plan management. This is especially important for large plans such as Bloomberg’s that holds billions of dollars of their employees’ retirement savings,” said Charles Field, Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Mismanagement and ERISA Litigation Practice Group and counsel for Plaintiff and the proposed class.

Russell Kornblith, a Partner and General Counsel at the Firm and counsel for the proposed class, added, “Our Complaint sets out the Bloomberg Defendants seemingly ignored clear warning signals, keeping these two Funds in the Plan despite years of underperformance. We alleged that the Bloomberg Defendants’ decision not to remove either the Harbor Fund or the Parnassus Fund breached their fiduciary responsibilities to act with a singular focus on the needs of the Plan’s participants and beneficiaries, costing the participants tens of millions.”

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight has filed the Bloomberg ERISA complaint on the heels of several significant ERISA class settlements in 2024 and 2025. In 2025, the firm obtained final approval of a record $69 million settlement in its multi-year class action against UnitedHealth Group. In 2024, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, together with co-counsel, also obtained final approval of a $61 million settlement in a long-running ERISA class action against General Electric. The UnitedHealth and GE settlements were among the most significant ERISA settlements in recent years. They were also among the highest value settlements ever in cases involving allegedly poor-performing plan investments.

About Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight is a public interest and civil rights law firm with offices in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Nashville, and San Diego. The firm focuses on executive representation, wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wage theft and overtime violations, whistleblower and qui tam, sexual violence, Title IX violations and victims’ rights, financial mismanagement and ERISA litigation, and Asian American litigation and finance matters. Our lawyers have recovered over $15 billion for our clients through many verdicts and settlements.

In 2024, Forbes named Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Chairman and Co-Founder David Sanford to its inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers. The National Law Journal has selected Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight as Civil Rights Firm of the Year, and it has recognized the firm as both Employment Rights Firm of the Year and Human Rights Firm of the Year. Benchmark Litigation has named the firm Labor & Employment Firm of the Year, and Law360 has recognized the firm as Employment Practice Group of the Year.

For the latest news about Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, visit the firm’s newsroom or follow the firm on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. 

If you have potential legal claims and are seeking counsel, please call 646-768-7070 or email david.sanford@sanfordheisler.com. Attorneys at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight would like to have the opportunity to help you.

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