Winning Big for SJCERA in Defense Against $200 Million Class Action Lawsuit

On September 13, 2019, we obtained summary judgment from San Joaquin Superior Court in an over $200 million class action lawsuit brought against the San Joaquin County Employees’ Retirement Association and its Board of Retirement (collectively, “SJCERA”) by a certified class of nearly 1,800 people.

The motion for summary judgment was the culmination of six months of rapid-fire litigation by Nossaman, engaged in after the Court denied SJCERA’s motion to dismiss in June 2018.  In December 2018, Plaintiffs doubled their claims against SJCERA.  They filed a Second Amended Petition setting forth 13 different claims of alleged wrongdoing by SJCERA, dating back to 2001, and changing one of their two named plaintiffs.

Our attorneys responded by compiling a record of nearly 600 public documents and a 50+ page declaration by SJCERA’s consulting actuary to defend the prudent and legally permissible administration of SJCERA by the Board over the prior 20 years.  We filed the motion in February 2019, and the Court issued a tentative ruling in June that denied the motion.  However, after three hours of oral argument and further consideration of Nossaman’s papers, the Court changed course and issued a 44-page ruling granting SJCERA’s motion on all 13 of plaintiffs’ claims.