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Welcome to the WaMu Pension Plan ERISA Settlement
website.
This website is designed to keep class members informed regarding the
ERISA Class Action Settlement that has been approved in Buus v. WaMu Pension
Plan, Inc. While the District Court has made a Final Approval of the
Settlement and ordered that certain documents filed with the Court be posted on
this website, the content of this website is the responsibility of Plaintiffs'
Class Counsel and has not been approved by the Court.
On December 15, 2010, the final list of members of the Settlement
Class was filed with the Court. The Internal Revenue Service made a final
approval of the settlement on December 17, 2010, and the settlement funds were
distributed to class member Washington Mutual Cash Balance Pension Plan accounts
on March 25, 2011, as described in more detail below.
Background
This case involves allegations that the WaMu Pension Plan's cash balance
design and the Great Western Retirement Plan's cash balance design violated the
law governing pensions and that the notices that Washington Mutual and Great
Western provided to employees regarding the cash balance formulas did not
adequately disclose that the amendments would cause significant reductions to
the rate of future benefit accrual. The WaMu Pension Plan ERISA Complaint was
filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
on June 12, 2007 on behalf of Plaintiffs and the class ("Class").
On December 12, 2007, the Court ruled on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the
Complaint by dismissing certain of the Complaint allegations, but upholding the
allegation that the Defendants failed to provide adequate notice to participants
of the reduction to the future rate of benefit accrual caused by a merger or
conversion of certain pension plans' final average pay formulas to cash balance
formulas.
On April 16, 2008, Plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint, and on July
24, 2008, Judge Pechman certified four subclasses. On August 7, 2008,
Plaintiffs filed a motion to amend the class to include two additional
subclasses. The parties settled the lawsuit prior to the Court ruling on the
pending motion to certify the two subclasses.
On September 16, 2008, after the completion of fact and expert discovery, the
parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.
On September 26, 2008, Washington Mutual Inc. filed voluntary petitions for
relief under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code with the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As a result of the
Chapter 11 Case, this Court stayed the Buus Action on October 2, 2008.
The Settlement
The Parties to the litigation executed a Settlement Agreement on June 29,
2010. Both sides agreed to the Settlement to ensure a timely and fair resolution
of Plaintiffs' claims and avoid the cost and risk of further litigation and a
trial. As with any litigation, the Named Plaintiffs faced an uncertain outcome
had this case proceeded, including the risk of dismissal upon future motions as
well as the risk of not prevailing at trial. The Settlement provides for a
payment of $20 million, net of expenses and attorney fees, to the Plan for the
benefit of the following Settlement Class:
(1) all participants, whether active, inactive or retired, who were
participants in and entitled to accrue benefits under the WaMu Pension Plan
immediately prior to January 1, 1987, and whose accrued benefits or pension
benefits are based in whole or in part on the WaMu Pension Plan's cash balance
formula, from January 1, 1987 to the present,
(2) all participants, whether active, inactive or retired, their
beneficiaries and estates, who were participants in and entitled to accrue
benefits under the Great Western Retirement Plan immediately prior to January 1,
1997, and whose accrued benefits or pension benefits are based in whole or in
part on the cash balance formulas of the Great Western Retirement Plan and/or
the WaMu Pension Plan, from January 1, 1997 to the present,
(3) all participants, whether active, inactive or retired, their
beneficiaries or estates, who were participants in and entitled to accrue
benefits under the Dime Bancorp, Inc. Retirement Plan immediately prior to April
1, 2002, and whose accrued benefits or pensions benefits are based in whole or
in part on the WaMu Pension Plan's cash balance formula from April 1, 2002 to
the present,
(4) all participants, whether active, inactive or retired, their
beneficiaries and estates, who were participants in and entitled to accrue
benefits under the Pacific First Bank Retirement Plan immediately prior to April
1, 1994, and whose accrued benefits are based in whole or in part on the WaMu
Pension Plan's cash balance formula, from April 1, 1994 to the present,
(5) all participants, whether active, inactive or retired, their
beneficiaries and estates, who were participants in and entitled to accrue
benefits under the H.F. Ahmanson & Company Retirement Plan immediately prior to
July 1, 1999, and whose accrued benefits or pension benefits are based in part
on the WaMu Pension Plan's cash balance formula, from July 1, 1999 to the
present, and
(6) all participants, whether active, inactive or retired, their
beneficiaries and estates, who were participants in and entitled to accrue
benefits under the Great Western Retirement Plan on the WaMu Pension Plan's cash
balance formula, from January 1, 1998 to the present, but only with respect to
such participants not described in section (ii) above;
The Plan of Allocation provides that distributions will be made on a per
capita basis to the Cash Balance Pension Plan accounts of Class members who
are still in the Plan, and for Class members who do not have a Plan account, one
will be established for them.
The Court scheduled a Fairness hearing to evaluate the fairness and adequacy
of the Settlement. At the October 29, 2010 Fairness hearing, the Court approved
the Settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate, approved the Notice and
Publication Notice and the agreed upon method of dissemination of same, approved
the application for attorneys' fees and expenses, and approved the proposed Plan
of Allocation and the case contribution awards for the Named Plaintiffs and
Former Named Plaintiff.
On December 15, 2010, the final list of members of the Settlement Class was
filed with the Court. The Internal Revenue Service approved the settlement on
December 17, 2010, and the settlement funds were distributed to class member
Washington Mutual Cash Balance Pension Plan accounts on March 25, 2011.
Settlement FAQ:
Q: What
will be my share of the settlement?
Plaintiffs' Lead Counsel's Plan of Allocation was approved by
the Court at the Fairness Hearing. The Plan of Allocation may be obtained at
www.kellersettlements.com, or by contacting Lead Counsel. It describes the
manner by which the Settlement proceeds that will increase the liabilities of
the Plan (the "Net Settlement Amount") will be allocated to Settlement Class
members. In general terms, the Net Settlement Amount will be allocated to
identified Settlement Class members on a per capita basis. A per
capita allocation was chosen instead of a pro rata type allocation
because the Settling Parties determined that a pro rata type allocation would be
extremely time consuming and expensive because of the number of plans involved,
the length of the Class Period, and the fact that the status of the data (which
goes back more than 20 years and includes data from the acquisitions of four
different banks) would not be feasible and may not permit an accurate and
equitable calculation of pro rata recoveries.
The Net Settlement Amount is less than the total alleged
losses in the Buus Action as set forth in the Complaint. However, Lead Counsel
believes that the Settlement results in identified class members receiving a
fair amount given the risks inherent in litigation and the possibility that
litigation might result in less recovery or zero recovery. The settlement funds
are earning 4.19% interest accruing from January 1, 2011. As of April 1, 2011,
the distribution amount that class members will receive, including interest, is
$805.09.
Q: How
will I receive my portion of the settlement?
You do not need to file a claim in order to be eligible for
recovery. If after reasonable efforts you have been identified as a Settlement
Class member and your current mailing address has been ascertained based upon
the reasonably accessible records maintained by the WaMu Pension Plan and/or the
Plan Administrator and you are a current Plan participant, your share of the Net
Settlement Amount was credited to your Plan account. If you are a former Plan
participant and member of the Settlement Class whose current mailing address has
been ascertained based upon the reasonably accessible records maintained by the
WaMu Pension Plan and/or the Plan Administrator, a Plan account was set up for
you to which your share of the Net Settlement Amount was credited. The Plan of
Allocation contemplated allocations based on the aggregate number of class
members who had been identified and whose current address was ascertained.
If you are a class member, the settlement payment was
distributed as a credit to your Washington Mutual Cash Balance Pension Plan
account. You will not receive cash. If you have not yet commenced receiving
pension benefits, you will receive your settlement payment as a credit to your
cash balance account. If you have taken a distribution of pension benefits
already, the settlement payment was credited to a new cash balance account
created for you. It is governed by the same Plan terms as other accounts,
including for purposes of taking a cash distribution of the settlement payment.
Q: When will I receive settlement benefit?
The settlement was approved by the Bankruptcy Court on
October 20, 2010, and the District Court on October 29, 2010. The Internal
Revenue Service approved the settlement on December 17, 2010. On December 15,
2010, the Parties filed a final list of Class Members that were identified and
had their current addresses ascertained after reasonable efforts. Also on
December 15, 2010, the Parties filed a declaration setting forth a final Plan of
Allocation. Pursuant to the Plan of Allocation, if you are a class member, you
received a credit to either your existing cash balance account or to a new cash
balance account created for you on March 25, 2011. The Claims Administrator is
mailing packets to class members on a rolling basis in order for class members
to elect to either move the distribution to another account or to cash it out.
If you would like your packet, you may call the Pension Service Center at
1-888-869-3779 to request one.
Settlement Distribution
If you have any questions about the Washington
Mutual ERISA Pension Plan
Litigation Settlement, please contact Class Counsel at:
Keller Rohrback L.L.P.
1201 Third Avenue
Suite 3200
Seattle, WA 98101
1-800-244-7577
wamupensionplansettlement@kellerrohrback.com
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