Three New York City pension funds are accused of breaching their fiduciary duties by divesting approximately $4 billion worth of assets from companies involved in fossil-fuel extraction.
Three New York City pension funds are accused of breaching their fiduciary duties by divesting approximately $4 billion worth of assets from companies involved in fossil-fuel extraction.
The complaint by the Americans for Fair Treatment, a subway train operator, a public school teacher, a school secretary, and an occupational therapist in an elementary school alleges that the pension funds ‒ the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York, and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System ‒ “breached their fiduciary duties and abused their control,” calling their fossil-fuel divestment policy a “misguided and ineffectual gesture to address climate change.”
The lawsuit centres on a 2021 decision by the pension funds’ boards of trustees to divest from securities related to fossil-fuel companies.
The complaint calls the divestment an “unlawful decision to elevate unrelated policy goals over the financial health of the plans” and claims it is inconsistent with the trustees’ fiduciary responsibilities.
