|
GOODYEAR SETTLEMENT WEBSITE
www.goodyearERISAsettlement.com
Welcome to the Goodyear ERISA Settlement
website. This website has been established to keep class members informed about
the Class Action Settlement reached in In re The Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Company ERISA Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio
Case No. 5:03-cv-2182.
Background
As described in more detail in the Consolidated
Amended Complaint filed in the ERISA litigation, this lawsuit concerns
allegations that Defendants breached fiduciary duties they purportedly owed to
participants and beneficiaries in the Plan during the Class Period. The
Defendants deny the allegations. Copies of Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Amended
Complaint and other documents filed in the lawsuit are available via the
Document Links on this website.
The Class
The Court has conditionally certified the
following Settlement Class:
All persons who were participants in or
beneficiaries of (a) The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Employee Savings
Plan for Salaried Employees, or (b) The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Employee Savings Plan for Bargaining Unit Employees at any time between
January 1, 1998 and December 12, 2007, and whose accounts included
investments in Goodyear stock, excluding any Defendants or their immediate
family members.
The Settlement
On December 12, 2007, the Court issued an order
granting preliminary approval of the Settlement. At the Fairness Hearing, to be
held on October 16, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. ET, the Court will decide, among other
things: whether to approve the Settlement; whether to dismiss with prejudice the
litigation against the Defendants pursuant to the Settlement Agreement; whether
the notices and the means of dissemination of same complied with all applicable
law; whether to approve the Plan of Allocation; whether to approve the
applications for attorneys’ fees and expenses and compensation for Lead
Plaintiffs.
As part of the Settlement, the Defendants agreed
to pay the sum of $8,375,000 (Eight Million Three Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand
Dollars) in cash from available insurance policies. After payment of and/or
establishment of reserves for taxes, Court-approved costs, attorneys’ fees, and
expenses (including any Court-approved compensation to be paid to Lead
Plaintiffs), the Settlement proceeds will be paid to a Commingled Trust for the
Plan. Once implementation expenses have been paid, the remaining amount will be
allocated to the plan accounts of members of the Settlement Class according to a
Plan of Allocation to be approved by the Court. If necessary, a subtrust will be
created for those members of the Settlement Class who no longer have Plan
accounts. In addition, the Settlement contains several non-monetary settlement
terms relating to current and future plan participants.
For more information about the Settlement and
the Fairness Hearing, see the Notice of Class Action Settlement.
You do not need to submit a claim form or any
documentation. For inquiries on the settlement or to update your address, please
send an email to the Settlement Plan Administrator at:
claimsadministrator@goodyearerisa.com or call toll-free 1-888-299-1179.
Please DO NOT contact the Court or Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Company regarding the Settlement. If you have any questions,
please use the email address or toll-free number provided above. |
