Kent Mason Featured in Bloomberg Law Article Discussing New 401(k) Litigation Approach Regarding Climate Risk
- Published Date: March 6, 2026
On March 4, 2026, Bloomberg Law published an article titled, “Cushman & Wakefield Sued Over 401(k)’s Alleged Climate Risk,” where Davis & Harman Partner, Kent Mason, was quoted detailing the new allegation brought by plaintiffs’ attorneys.
Earlier this week, Cushman & Wakefield was sued by a plaintiff alleging 401(k) plan underperformance of one specific plan fund, excessive investment and record keeping fees, and a new element: a failure of the plan fiduciaries to sufficiently consider the climate-related risks of the alleged underperforming fund.
Bloomberg Law wrote that this appears to be the first federal lawsuit attempting to use ERISA to impose liability on retirement plan fiduciaries based on the purported climate risks of their investments. Kent Mason was quoted calling the allegations baseless due to the lack of factual evidence showing that plan fiduciaries did not in fact consider climate risks. He further noted that the complaint does not show that the challenged fund caused any harm to the plan.
Mason’s emailed statement is quoted saying, “Without any harm, the plaintiffs have no standing to bring a claim based on an alleged failure to consider climate risk. The lesson of this case is that the plaintiffs’ lawyers are very creative in trying to find new rhetoric to support empty claims.”
A link to the article can be found here.
