By Danielle Herring and Andrew Epstein ( May 1, 2018, 2:12 PM EDT) -- Exxon Mobil Corporation and certain of its senior corporate officers who serve as fiduciaries (trustees) to the Exxon Mobil Savings Plan recently staved off a challenge to their plan investment decisions in Fentress v. Exxon Mobil Corp.[1] The challenge, brought by current and former Exxon employees who participate in the plan and their beneficiaries (collectively, investors), alleged that Exxon and the trustees "knew or should have known that Exxon's stock had become artificially inflated in value due to fraud and misrepresentation."[2] The investors argued that Exxon's stock represented an "imprudent investment" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and that they suffered harm when Exxon's stock price dropped because it represented the single largest plan holding — valued once at approximately $10 billion.[3] The investors challenged the plan's investment decisions based upon the trustees' inside information.[4] The decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas continues a growing trend in losses for the plaintiffs bar in "stock drop"[5] cases, which stem from the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer[6]....