MADISON, Wis.–Plaintiffs who had been challenging fees tied to the Credit Union Retirement Plan Association 401(k) Plan have reached a $570,000 class settlement even though they had been unable to secure a court order certifying the lawsuit as a class action.
The settlement is expected to include at least 1,000 people who participated in the plan and who were employees of FirstLight FCU in El Paso, Texas, and California Coast Credit Union in San Deigo. The lawsuit had initially sought to include as many as 9,000 plan participants across more than 100 employers.
Earlier Ruling
As reported in January, the federal court in Wisconsin denied a motion for class certification in a federal benefits lawsuit from former participants in 401(k) plan managed by the Credit Union Retirement Plan Association.
According to a copy of the ruling reviewed by CUToday.info, the court issued its ruling in the case after finding that three of the four participants in the $1.5 billion, multiple employer plan were not harmed.
The motion was denied in a 14-page order from U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson, who found the majority of the plaintiffs were charged fees that the proposed class contended were “reasonable.”
At the time, Peterson left standing one claim, that by plaintiff Brenda Lucero.
The Allegations
The case dates to 2022 and alleged that the Credit Union Retirement Plan Association—defined in the suit as a professional employer organization that offers its retirement plan to member organizations--has breached its fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Among the allegations were that it did not objectively and adequately review the plan's investment portfolio to ensure each option included fair costs. Lucero is also alleging CURPA had inadequate recordkeeping and let administration costs get out of control.
At the end of 2020, the plan had more than 20,000 participants.