Beryl

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA San Francisco Division LOUIS BERYL, Case No. 20-cv-05920-LB

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND

DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR

v. JUDGMENT AS MATTER OF LAW OR

NEW TRIAL

NAVIENT CORPORATION, et al.,

Defendants. 16 INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Louis Beryl started an online student-lending company called Earnest, Inc. Defendant Navient Corporation — which services and collects private and federal student loans through its subsidiary Navient Solutions LLC — acquired Earnest, Inc. for approximately $155 million and hired Mr. Beryl and his team to run a new Navient Corporation entity called Earnest LLC. After several months, Navient fired Mr. Beryl, who sued Navient for (1) severance pay due to him under an executive-severance plan, in violation of ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B), (2) breach of fiduciary duties for the denial of benefits, in violation of ERISA § 502(a)(3),…