Skip to main content

AME Church Pension Plan Lawsuit

Case Overview

In the Fall of 2021, more than 5,000 current and retired clergy and other employees of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church learned that at least $90 million in pension plan assets had been lost due to gross mismanagement and lack of oversight by the AME Church and Church fiduciaries and outside entities. 

Kantor & Kantor, joined by the AARP Legal Foundation, filed suit against the AME Church and other responsible parties in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland on Behalf of Presiding Elder Cedric V. Alexander after Elder Alexander, who had just retired, had his retirement account frozen.

Five other suits were filed on behalf of other clergy members. The cases were eventually consolidated as a multi-district litigation matter in the Western District of Tennessee. The 17-count amended consolidated complaint, brought as a class action, alleges state law claims for fiduciary breach, breach of trust, negligence, conversion, fraud, breach of contract, and conspiracy, among other violations of state law.

The suit seeks damages, including punitive and emotional harm damages and other legal, equitable, and injunctive relief to make the clergy members and other AME Church employees whole, to recover plan assets that were improperly diverted, and to ensure that the retirement assets are protected, and managed properly into the future. On March 17, 2023, the Court issued a ruling denying most of Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss. Read the Order on Motions to Dismiss Consolidated Amended Complaint.

Read the AME Church Consolidated Amended Complaint

This case will be updated to reflect important developments in the case.

Recent Trial Verdicts

Recent Trial Verdicts

Kantor & Kantor obtained successful outcomes for our clients who had the following disabling conditions:

Fibromyalgia and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

Hartford had denied the claim, stating that our client’s cognitive deficits were manufactured and that she could perform her own occupation, which required engineer-type skills. Among other things, Hartford relied upon a doctor who did not believe in the disabling potential of Fibromyalgia. In its decision for our client, the Court stated that Hartford’s medical evidence was not credible because its physician did not accept Fibromyalgia as a potentially disabling condition.

MORE
Photo: Fibromyalgia

Orthopedic Back Injury/Arthritis

Our client suffered from a degenerative back condition, which made it difficult for her to sit for long periods of time. Cigna denied the claim, forcing our client to litigate to obtain the benefits to which she deserved. The Court found in favor of our client, holding that Cigna’s physicians engaged in a selective review of the medical records. An insurance carrier is required to consider all of the evidence; not just that which favors its financial interests.

MORE
Photo: Arthritis

Seizure Disorder

Hartford improperly terminated our client’s benefits, after he had been on claim for almost 20 years, while still suffering from breakthrough convulsions. The Court held that the isolated evidence that Hartford relied upon to support its claim termination was insufficient to support its contrary conclusion.

MORE
Photo: Seizures