Optical telecommunications company Coriant has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve claims that it breached fiduciary duties while administering its 401(k) plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The settlement terms will benefit participants of the Coriant 401(k) plan who faced loss on liquidating their Gibraltar Guaranteed Fund (GGF) investments at market value. Beneficiaries of deceased plan participants and alternate payees of individuals whose accounts were subjected to qualified domestic relations orders will also come under the wings of this settlement.
Settlement website – https://www.strategicclaims.net/coriant401k
Objection deadline – 02/05/2023
Exclusion deadline – Since the class has already been certified by the settlement, there is no exclusion deadline.
Claim Form – Class members don’t have to submit any claim form to receive settlement benefits and will receive their portion of the settlement fund automatically.
Deadline for submitting the claim – Not applicable
Final Hearing date – 02/23/2023
Settlement amount – $1 million
Potential claim amount – Variable
Proof of purchase – Not applicable
Coriant failed to honor its fiduciary duties under ERISA and invested a large chunk of retirement funds into GFF investments. However, the company allegedly terminated its 401(k) and liquidated the GGD investments of participants without notifying them properly. This forced the participants to liquidate their investments at market value as opposed to book value and resulted in monetary losses of more than $2 million. Plaintiffs have sought compensation for the losses incurred and other damages arising from Coriant’s violation of ERISA fiduciary duties.
Though the defendant hasn’t admitted to any wrongdoing, they have agreed to resolve all allegations with a $1 million class action settlement. Under the settlement terms, the class members are eligible to receive cash payments depending on their net losses. Their shares will be computed based on the account balance due to GGF liquidation. The ones with a higher calculated net loss will be eligible for a bigger share of the net settlement fund.