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1. Why weren’t former employees of banks acquired by Fleet or Bank of America other than Shawmut and NatWest members of the Class? The events that gave rise to this lawsuit did not affect those employees. 2. What is a class action lawsuit? A class action is a legal proceeding where one or more people act as the representatives of a group of people. Here, Donna Richards is representing herself and all of the members in the Class. The Court resolves the claims of all Class members in one proceeding. 3. What was the lawsuit about? On January 1, 1997, the pension plan covering employees of Fleet Financial Group, Inc., including at the time former employees of Shawmut National Corporation and National Westminster Bank, which were each acquired by Fleet, was converted to a cash balance formula for participants who were not at that time at least 50 years old with at least 15 years of service. The Plaintiff claimed that the cash balance design violated the federal law governing pensions and that the communications that the Bank provided to employees regarding the cash balance formula and the conversion were not adequate. The Bank denies the Plaintiff’s allegations. 4. Does the Fleet Pension Plan’s cash balance benefit formula discriminate against participants based on age or violate the law? That was a claim in the lawsuit, but the Bank believes that the Fleet Pension Plan’s cash balance benefit formula does not discriminate based upon age and that the Plan has complied with and continues to comply with all applicable laws. By settling the case, the Bank did not admit any wrongdoing. 5. Why did the Bank agree to settle? Defendants deny any liability to the Class. They favored the settlement, however, because it put the matter to rest for the company and the participants in its pension plan. 6. Why did the plaintiff agree to settle? The plaintiff and her counsel believe her claims have merit. They favored the settlement because it provided immediate and certain benefits to every member of the Class. 7. I did not agree to let anyone sue on my behalf. Why has this happened? The law allows one or more people, under certain circumstances, to bring a claim on behalf of a group. That happened here. 8. What did class members receive as a result of the settlement? The settlement was approved by the court on October 15, 2008. The settlement was contingent upon the Internal Revenue Service’s approval of a plan amendment to implement the settlement. The IRS approved the amendment on October 14, 2009. As a result, members of the class received a settlement amount in the form of cash or a credit to your cash balance account. Certain class members who met Rule of 85 criteria may have been entitled to additional benefits. 9. How was the amount I received in the settlement calculated? A description of the settlement calculations is contained in the Notice of Proposed Settlement. If you did not receive the Notice of Proposed Settlement in the mail, you may review a copy of the Notice at this website. The amount that you received was calculated based upon a variety of factors, such as your age, years of service and salary. The minimum amount was $199.99. 10. Why didn’t everybody get the same settlement benefits? The settlement agreement provides different amounts to Class members depending on factors such as a Class member’s age, years of service and salary. The settlement calculations are described in the Notice of Proposed Settlement. If you did not receive a Notice of Proposed Settlement in the mail, you may review a copy of the Notice at this website. 11. How were the settlement payments distributed? The method of distribution depended upon the amount to which class members were entitled and whether a class member had already commenced receiving his or her benefits. Class members who had not commenced receiving pension benefits received their settlement amount as a credit to their Cash Balance Account. Class members who had taken a distribution of pension benefits and were entitled to a settlement payment of $200.00 or more received a credit to a New Cash Balance Account that was created for them. The New Cash Balance Account will be governed by the same Plan terms as other accounts. Class members who had taken a distribution of pension benefits and were entitled to a settlement amount of $199.99, if permitted by law, received a check. If this was not permissible, a New Cash Balance Account was created for them. Finally, certain Rule of 85 benefits could only be taken as an annuity. 12. I should have received a check for $199.99 but I have not received it. How can I collect my payment? If you were entitled to a check for $199.99 but have not yet received it, you may call 800-556-6044 for information on how to obtain your payment. 13. What is the court approval referred to in the Notice? Was the settlement approved? Because the case is a class action, the court was required to approve the settlement before it became final. The Court held a hearing on October 15, 2008 to consider any objections to the settlement and to decide whether to give final approval of the settlement. In order to approve the settlement, the Court had to determine that the settlement was fair to the class. At the end of the hearing, the Court concluded that the Settlement was fair and gave its final approval to the Settlement. The court also approved Class Counsel’s request for attorney’s fees, and approved the class representative’s request for an incentive award. 14. I do not believe that my settlement amount was accurately calculated. Is it too late for me to challenge my settlement amount? When the Court approved the settlement, it approved the settlement amounts as submitted in connection with the final approval hearing. This means that a participant’s settlement amount was fixed as of October 22, 2008 – the date on which the Court’s order was entered – and is not subject to change. 15. Is it too late for me to object to or comment upon the settlement terms? Yes. The period for objections closed on August 1, 2008. Class members are no longer able to file any objections to, or make any comments on, the terms of the settlement. 16. Is it too late for me to object to the payment of the attorney’s fees or incentive award? Yes. The period for objections closed on August 1, 2008. Class members are no longer able to file any objections to the amount of attorneys’ fees or incentive award. 17. Who paid the attorney for the Class and how much was he paid? Under the terms of the settlement, the attorney’s fees and expenses of the counsel for the Class were paid by the Plan as an administrative expense. The court approved Class Counsel’s request for payment of $17,250,000 in fees and $325,000 in expenses. The payment of attorneys’ fees and expenses did not decrease the amount of the settlement payments made to the Class. 18. Did the plaintiff receive anything more than the rest of the Class? As a Class member, the plaintiff received an amount in the settlement based upon the same settlement agreement that applies to the rest of the class. In addition, because the plaintiff represented the Class throughout the litigation, the Plan paid an incentive award to the plaintiff, in the amount of $15,000. This payment was approved by the Court during the October 15, 2008 hearing. 19. Did I release any claims once the settlement agreement became effective? Once the settlement agreement became effective, all Class members released Defendants and all companies and persons related to them from all of the claims in the lawsuit and any other claims about the 1997 Cash Balance Amendment that could have been brought. The lawsuit was also dismissed with prejudice. 20. Where can I get additional information about the settlement? You can get a full copy of the settlement agreement at this website. 21. I would like to speak to the attorney for the Class. How do I contact him? Thomas G. Moukawsher |
