Following oral argument today, the Superior Court of New Jersey (Burlington County) (Baldwin, J.) granted the Firm’s motion to dismiss an action alleging the Firm’s client, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company (“VALIC”), breached its annuity contract with plaintiff, was negligent, and breached its fiduciary duties in connection with alleged unauthorized withdrawals from plaintiff’s annuity account. In dismissing the action, the Court adopted each of the Firm’s arguments, including that plaintiff’s contract claims were time-barred, her negligence claim failed as duplicative of her breach of contract claim, and VALIC, as the issuer of an annuity, did not owe a fiduciary duty to plaintiff.
