Cintas ERISA Settlement – Eligibility for Payout and Latest Update

The Cintas Corporation employees secured the preliminary approval for $4 million settlements under the ERISA lawsuit. The associated class members can read the article to learn about the settlement and the distribution of the settlement. 

Cintas ERISA Settlement

The Cintas Corporation employees filed the ERISA lawsuit against the company in 2019, now after years of hard-fought litigation, the plaintiffs have finally received the preliminary approval. 

The Cintas Erisa Settlement includes a $4 million cash payment and certain non-monetary relief for the employees. The plaintiffs believe this is a great result as the settlement provides enough payments to settlement class members eliminating the risks and trial costs. 

According to reports, both parties settled in November 2023 but the terms were not disclosed at that time. 

The settlement agreement filed on 9 February 2024 now needs final court approval, so that the employees can get the settlement money from the class action settlement administrator. 

The defendant, Cintas, also agreed to conduct a record-keeping REP within five years of final approval of the ERISA settlement along with the $4 million settlement amount.  

The hearing date for final approval of the class action settlement is yet to be scheduled, so the plaintiffs have to wait for the final notice of the settlement that their third-party class action administrator would send to all the class members. 

What has happened so far in the Cintas ERISA lawsuit?

The Cintas former employees have filed a lawsuit against Cintas Corporation alleging the Cintas 401(k) plan has violated the fiduciary duties under the ERISA (Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974)404 (a). 

The law sets some minimum standards for voluntarily established health plans and retirement plans in the private sector to protect the rights of employees through such voluntary plans. 

The plaintiffs alleged that Cintas’s plan has violated the ERISA law by the following doings:

  • They failed to actively monitor the plan expenses, which led to burdening the participants with excessive record-keeping fees.
  • They offered just actively managed mutual funds, but the company failed to review the plan’s investment funds to ensure that every investment was profitable in terms of cost. 
  • They fail to monitor the performance of processes of the Committee Defendants for better performance of their fiduciary obligations (prudence, care, and loyalty).

The Cintas corporation filed a motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay the Proceedings in 2020 in response to the Plaintiffs’ lawsuits. However, the US District Court justices refused to review the case saying the lawsuit was not subjected to arbitration, meaning the trial, withdrawal, or settlement of the lawsuit by the plaintiffs is the only way to end the litigation. 

The Defendants then appealed in the US Supreme Court in 2023, which also refused to hear the case. Afterward, the mediation between the parties took place in October 2023 and in November 2023 the parties agreed to the settlement. 

Who will receive the Cintas Erisa settlement?

According to the 9 February 2024 notice, they have defined the settlement class as:

  • People who participated in a plan at any time during the class period ( from 13 December 2013  to December 2019) including a beneficiary of any deceased person who once participated in the plan and alternate payee of a person subject to a QDR.

The beneficiaries and defendants are excluded from the settlement. According to reports, it will benefit more than 52,000 people, which represents at least 30% of the worker’s best-case estimated damages.

What’s the amount the plaintiffs can receive through Cintas Erisa Settlement? 

The settlement fund entitles $4 million in cash payments to class members. Each plaintiff may receive estimated compensation from the net settlement fund with additional funds of up to $3500 for bringing up the case in the picture. 

The attorneys will also receive settlement fees of up to $1333200 and expense reimbursement. The net settlement fund will be paid to the class members after all attorney fees and expenses are subtracted from the settlement amount. 

Now, the plaintiffs await the final approval confirming the settlement is fair enough to send the potential class members’ notice to the eligible class member. The final notice will reveal how to compensate the class members, establish a settlement website, and the further events to claim the Cintas ERISA settlement. 

To Get Relevant Information. Go to NCBLPC Homepage.

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