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You have reached the Richards v. FleetBoston Financial Corp. settlement website.
The settlement was approved by the court on October 15, 2008 and that approval was
reflected in a final judgment entered on October 22.
Click here to access
the court's order approving the settlement. In addition, the court approved Class
Counsel's request for attorney's
fees, and the class representative's request for an incentive award. As a result of the court's approval,
the individual settlement amounts for each class member submitted in connection
with the final approval hearing have been approved and cannot be changed.
The parties agreed that the “Effective Date” for the settlement was October 14,
2009, the date upon which the IRS approved the plan amendment implementing the terms
of the settlement. Since then, the parties have finalized and implemented the terms
of the settlement, including the distribution of cash payments and crediting of
cash balance accounts. Class members received either a cash payment or a credit
to their existing cash balance account or a credit to a new cash balance account
created for them. Cash payments were distributed, and cash balance accounts were
credited, on December 7, 2009.
If you received a credit to an existing cash balance account or to a new cash balance
account created for you, a letter was mailed to you on December 1, 2009 with more
information about your account and any applicable benefit election options. If you
have any questions about your cash balance account, please contact the Bank of America
Personnel Center at 800-556-6044.
The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit brought by Donna Richards, suing
on behalf of certain legacy Fleet Financial Group, Inc., Shawmut National Corporation,
and National Westminster Bank participants who were converted to a cash balance
pension formula on January 1, 1997. 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 inadequate. The Defendants deny the Plaintiff's allegations, and the settlement
is not an admission of fault by Defendants.
Important Dates
Final Approval Granted on: October 15, 2008
Settlement Effective Date: October 14, 2009
Cash Payments Distributed/Cash Balance Accounts Credited: December 7, 2009
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