ESOP-owned Rainbow Disposal was acquired in 2014 by Republic Services, and plan participants later sued, alleging several violations of ERISA. The defendants offered five separate motions to dismiss the case, but the judge on July 9 ruled that the suit could proceed.
Thirty-seven of 76 companies on the annual Fortune Best 100 Companies to Work For list have some form of broad-based employee ownership. That percentage has varied very little since the 1990s, in part because the list does not change dramatically from year to year.
The Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University announced on April 18 that it is launching the Shares Laboratory.
Kemper Securities, a division of the Kemper Company, will be sold to an ESOP that will own 55% of the company. One percent will go to management and 44% to existing Kemper Company shareholders. Kemper Securities has been a lackluster performer in recent years. It employs 1300 stockbrokers.
The Kendeda Fund, a national grant-making foundation, announced on August 26 that it would invest $24 million in four nonprofit organizations that support employee ownership.
Senator Edward Kennedy has introduced legislation that is expected to serve as the retirement law focus for Senate Democrats. The bill is expected to be marked up favorably by the Senate Labor Committee, but its prospects on the floor of the Senate are more uncertain.
