( May 12, 2026, 3:55 PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Merits briefing concerning pleading standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act is underway in the U.S. Supreme Court, with the petitioners and amici curiae urging vacatur of a ruling that a putative class suit challenging purportedly underperforming retirement plan investments in hedge funds and private equity was correctly dismissed for failure to allege a “meaningful benchmark”; the petitioners argue that the ruling “contradicts the statutory text, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and this Court’s precedent interpreting both” and is “illogical, unworkable, and unnecessary,” and the amici contend that it weakens protections that are vital for retirement savers....