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Spivey v.
Southern Co., et. al.
(Civil Action
No. 1:04-CV-1912-CAP, U.S. District Court, N.D. of Georgia, Atlanta
Division)
Welcome to the Southern Company ERISA Settlement website. This
website has been established to keep class members informed about the
Class Action Settlement reached in Spivey v. Southern Co., et al, Civil Case No. 1:04-CV-1912-RWS.
Keller Rohrback L.L.P. and Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler, LLP are Court-appointed Class Counsel in this matter.
SETTLEMENT DISTRIBUTION COMPLETE
We
are pleased to announce that the Settlement has been calculated and
distributed to eligible Class Members according to the Court-approved
Plan of Allocation. If you are an eligible Class Member who has
received a portion of the Settlement, the amount of your award
(Settlement Proceeds) was posted to your account in the Southern
Company Employee Savings Plan (ESP) as of April 30, 2008. The
Settlement Proceeds will be included in your Account Statement for the
period April 01, 2008 - June 30, 2008, which will be mailed to you in
July, 2008.
When you receive your Account Statement (or view it
by logging on to Benefits OnLine), first, look for the heading
“Activity Summary by Fund;” second, look for the second column called
“Contributions, income and other credits”. Your Settlement
Proceeds are included in the amounts shown in this column, but you may
have other credits included here that cause that number to be different
than the amount of Settlement Proceeds that will be identified in a
letter that will be sent to your home address in the coming weeks.
If
you have any questions about the Southern Company ERISA Class Action
Settlement, Settlement Proceeds, or how the amount of your Settlement
Proceeds was determined please contact Class Counsel at:
Do not call
Southern Company, HR Direct, Merrill Lynch (except to verify posted
awards), Hewitt Associates, or the Court as they cannot answer any
questions about your Settlement Proceeds.
SETTLEMENT
FINAL AND EFFECTIVE
The appeals period in this matter has expired with no appeal being
filed and, as such, the Settlement has become Final. On August 14,
2007, the Honorable Richard W. Story held a Fairness Hearing and
approved the Settlement of this matter. The following order was
entered: Order
and Final Judgment.
This Action was commenced in June 2004. On November 23, 2005,
Plaintiff Mark T. Spivey ("Plaintiff") filed an Amended Complaint
alleging that Defendants Southern Company, Southern Company Services,
Inc., Employee Savings Plan Committee, Michael D. Garrett, Charles D.
McCrary, David M. Ratcliffe, H. Allen Franklin, Elmer B. Harris, Robert
A. Bell, W. Dean Hudson, Ellen N. Lindemann, Christopher C. Womack, R.
Craig Elder (misidentified in the Lawsuit as Craig R. Elder), Thomas A.
Fanning, Robert M. Gilbert, Carson B. Harreld, William B. Hutchins,
III, Kathleen S. King, Ronnie R. Labrato, Michael W. Southern, Kirby R.
Willis, Gale E. Klappa, Allen L. Leverett, and Pension Fund Investment
Review Committee ("Southern Defendants") breached their duties under
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (commonly referred
to as ERISA), by making Mirant Stock available as an investment option
under the Southern Company Employee Savings Plan ("Plan") and caused
the Plan to hold units of Mirant Stock at a time when, according to
Plaintiff, Mirant Stock was an unsuitable and imprudent investment for
the Plan. Southern Defendants denied and continue to deny the claims
and contentions alleged by Plaintiff. The Court did not decide in favor
of the Plaintiff or Southern Defendants. Instead, both sides agreed to
the Settlement to ensure a resolution and avoid the cost and risk of
further litigation.
The Court has certified this case as a Class Action for purposes of
the Settlement. The Settlement Class shall mean: All persons who were
participants in or beneficiaries of the Plan at any time between April
2, 2001 and July 26, 2006 (the "Class Period") and whose Plan accounts
held Mirant Stock in the Plan's Mirant Stock Fund, excluding the
Southern Defendants and their Immediate Family, beneficiaries,
alternate payees, Representatives, or Successors-in-Interest in
connection with their account in the Plan.
As part of the Settlement, Southern Defendants have caused the
payment of $15 million into a Settlement Fund. The Settlement Fund,
including interest, was paid to the Plan and allocated to the
individual Plan accounts of members of the Settlement Class according
to a Plan of Allocation after payments of any Court-approved costs,
fees, expenses and case contribution awards to the Named Plaintiff were
made. A Plan account will be created for those members of the
Settlement Class who no longer have one. |
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