BG Moves to Confirm Arbitration Victory Finding Isagenix ESOP Overpaid $38 Million
Bailey & Glasser, LLP has filed a motion to confirm an important arbitration victory on behalf of our client, Shana Robertson, in litigation involving the Isagenix Worldwide, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”). A panel of arbitrators found that plan fiduciary Argent Trust Co. caused the ESOP to overpay $38.25 million for company stock and awarded relief to Ms. Robertson.
Led by ERISA Practice Group Leader Gregory Porter, along with ERISA partner Patrick Muench and lawyer Laura Babiak, the Bailey Glasser team represented Ms. Robertson in her claims that Argent Trust Company caused the Isagenix ESOP to purchase company stock for more than fair market value, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”).
Ms. Robertson, a former employee of Isagenix—a multi-level marketing company selling weight loss and nutrition products—participated in the ESOP created in 2018. That year, Argent, serving as the ESOP’s independent trustee, approved the plan’s purchase of 30,000 shares for $382.5 million based on revenue projections tied to new markets, products, and expansion in Asia. By the end of 2018, however, the company’s equity value had fallen by $550 million. In 2023, Isagenix terminated the ESOP. At termination, Ms. Robertson’s 9.5 shares, once valued at $6,051.15 per share, yielded a payout of only $1,083.84.
On October 7, 2021, Ms. Robertson sued Argent and the selling shareholders in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and engaging in a prohibited transaction under ERISA by causing the ESOP to overpay for Isagenix stock. The case proceeded to arbitration under the Plan’s arbitration provision and was heavily litigated before a three-arbitrator panel over three years.
After seven days of evidentiary hearings, the panel issued a unanimous order on June 10, 2025, finding that Argent and the selling shareholders engaged in prohibited transactions under ERISA and that Argent caused the ESOP to overpay by $38.25 million, or $1,275 per share. The panel determined Ms. Robertson’s individual account suffered $11,029.50 in damages.
In a subsequent order on July 28, 2025, the panel awarded Ms. Robertson $2.36 million in fees and $132,000 in costs. On October 2, 2025, Bailey Glasser filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to confirm the arbitration awards, holding Argent accountable for its fiduciary failures under ERISA.
Bailey Glasser has a nationally recognized ERISA litigation practice that has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for workers, retirees, and their families. You can learn more about our ERISA and Employee Benefits & Trust Litigation practice here.