Miller Shah LLP Advances Dish Network 401(k) Litigation as Summary Judgment is Denied

by Tracy Feldman

On July 23, 2026, a motion for summary judgment was denied in an ERISA class action brought against Dish Network Corp. for breach of fiduciary duties in the management of its employees’ 401(k) plan. The Court’s decision opens the door for the matter to move forward to the trial stage, where Miller Shah LLP will continue to represent the plan participants.

Current and former participants filed the suit in 2022. Their central allegation is that Dish kept a suite of target date funds in the plan for years despite underperformance and other red flags, a decision the plaintiffs contend violated the fiduciary duties ERISA imposes on plan sponsors and cost participants retirement savings. The plan held roughly $1.6 billion in assets at the end of 2024 and counted about 17,000 active participants, placing it among the larger plans of its kind.

In denying summary judgment, the Court concluded that triable issues of fact remain as to whether Dish adequately monitored the funds during the class period and whether retaining the challenged funds was substantively prudent. In particular, the court noted that factual issues remain regarding the sufficiency of the fiduciaries’ process and the challenged funds’ performance issues, which will need to be decided at the trial phase. Moreover, other claims related to the failure to monitor and co-fiduciary liability were sustained for trial.

The ruling follows the court’s August 2024 order granting class certification, which approved a class of current and former plan participants. Together, the two decisions clear the path for the plaintiffs to present their claims on a plan-wide basis.

Plan participants are represented by James E. Miller, Laurie Rubinow, Alec J. Berin, and Anna K. D’Agostino of Miller Shah LLP and Mark K. Gyandoh of Capozzi Adler PC.

The case is Jones et al. v. Dish Network Corp. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-00167, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.