ERISA Settlement: How 401(k) and Benefit Class Actions Pay Out
Reference Guide
An ERISA settlement almost always means a retirement-plan case: workers sued the company that ran their 401(k) and the money goes back to the plan. If you still have an account, you usually do nothing — your share is credited to it. If you left and cashed out, you often must file a claim form, and that deadline is the one people miss. The most-searched current example: the $13.4 million Liberty Mutual 401(k) settlement, which received a Final Order and Judgment filed September 9, 2026.
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What an ERISA Lawsuit Is About
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 sets minimum standards for most retirement and health plans in private industry. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, it imposes fiduciary duties on the people who manage plan money and gives participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty.
That produces two very different kinds of case. An ERISA class action lawsuit is usually brought for the whole plan under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(2), which allows relief under section 1109. The typical claims are that a 401(k) paid too much for recordkeeping, kept expensive or underperforming funds, or used forfeited contributions the wrong way. The companies deny wrongdoing; these are allegations until a court rules.
An individual ERISA lawsuit is a single person suing to recover benefits due under 1132(a)(1)(B) — typically a denied long-term disability or health claim. Those cases do not produce settlements you can join. If that is your situation, see our long-term disability lawyer guide or the MetLife disability lawsuit page.
Case details
ERISA claims are federal: plan cases are filed in U.S. district courts and carry federal nature-of-suit code 791 (ERISA). Two rules shape nearly every case:
Deadline to sue. Under 29 U.S.C. 1113, a fiduciary-breach claim must be brought within six years of the last act of the breach, or within three years of the date the plaintiff had actual knowledge of it, whichever is earlier. That is why class periods often reach back about six years before filing.
Pleading standard. On April 17, 2025 the U.S. Supreme Court decided Cunningham v. Cornell University, No. 23-1007, holding that a plaintiff alleging a prohibited transaction under §1106(a)(1)(C) need only plead the elements of that provision; the §1108 exemptions are defenses the employer must raise and prove. The Court noted there are 21 statutory exemptions. The ruling makes fee cases harder to dismiss at the start.
Benefit-denial cases have their own first step: a Labor Department regulation (29 CFR 2560.503-1) requires plans to give at least 60 days to appeal a denial internally, and at least 180 days for group health plans. Usually that internal appeal must come before any lawsuit.
Status: ERISA Settlements in the News, October 2026
Salesforce 401(k) — approved. Miguel v. Salesforce.com, No. 3:20-cv-01753-MMC, consolidated with Simonelli, No. 3:24-cv-00813-MMC (N.D. Cal.). Final approval April 4, 2025; the former-participant claim deadline was February 11, 2025.
Estée Lauder 401(k) — approved. Law v. Estee Lauder Inc., No. 1:20-cv-04770-JLR (S.D.N.Y.); the settlement site states the court has entered final approval after a May 23, 2024 hearing.
UnitedHealth Group 401(k) — approved. A $69 million settlement for more than 350,000 participants over the Wells Fargo target-date funds was finalized by a Minnesota federal judge in June 2025, according to PLANADVISER.
AmerisourceBergen 401(k). Dukes v. AmerisourceBergen Corp., No. 3:23-cv-313-DJH-CHL (W.D. Ky.), had a fairness hearing scheduled for November 7, 2025; we could not confirm the outcome.
Who Is in an ERISA Class Action
The class is defined by plan and dates, not by whether you complained. Liberty Mutual's reads: “All participants and beneficiaries of the Liberty Mutual 401(k) Plan from April 10, 2014 through December 31, 2025, excluding the Defendants.” If you had an account in that window, you are in — you never sign up to join.
Current versus former participant is the key split. In the Liberty Mutual deal, a current participant is anyone with a balance greater than $0 on December 31, 2025, including people who left the company but kept their account. Their share goes straight into the account. Former participants get a check or a rollover — but only if they filed a claim form. Not every plan works that way: the AmerisourceBergen site says current and former participants and beneficiaries need take no action at all.
ERISA itself does not reach every plan. The Department of Labor says it generally does not cover plans run by government employers or churches for their employees. A teacher's or city pension is not part of an ERISA class action.
What an ERISA Settlement Pays
The gross fund is $13,400,000. From it come administrative expenses, taxes, court-approved attorneys' fees (class counsel said it would ask for no more than one-third), up to $430,000 in litigation costs, and case contribution awards to the named plaintiffs. What is left — the Net Settlement Amount — is split under a court-approved Plan of Allocation, typically in proportion to account balances during the class period.
Practical consequence: people with large balances over many years get noticeably more; people with small or short-lived accounts may get very little. Payment comes only after final approval and after any appeal is resolved. To test a figure you have heard, plug the fund size and class size into our payout calculator.
How cases like this one end
Our copy of the federal courts’ own case database covers 64,910 erisa casesclosed in U.S. federal district courts between 2015 and 2026, 1.8% of them filed as class actions:
- 42.7% ended in a settlement recorded by the court. Another 23.1% were dismissed voluntarily, which often follows a private settlement — so the real settlement share sits between 42.7% and 65.7%.
- 6.2% were decided on a motion before any trial.
- 1 in 295 reached a trial (0.3%), after a median of 22.8 months.
- Median time from filing to the end of the case: 6.2 months.
- Only 5,008 of them (7.7%) record a money award at all; the median of those is $102,500.
These are base rates for this type of case (federal erisa cases) — not a prediction about this lawsuit, and not legal advice. Source: Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (civil), analysed by Settlement Insight. Cases heard in state courts are not included.
ERISA Settlement Timeline
1974 — ERISA Becomes Law
Congress enacts the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, giving plan participants the right to sue for benefits and fiduciary breaches.
April 4, 2025 — Salesforce Deal Approved
The Northern District of California grants final approval of the consolidated Salesforce 401(k) settlement.
April 17, 2025 — Cunningham v. Cornell
The Supreme Court holds that prohibited-transaction plaintiffs need not disprove the §1108 exemptions in their complaint.
June 2025 — UnitedHealth $69 Million
A Minnesota federal judge finalizes the UnitedHealth Group 401(k) settlement covering more than 350,000 participants.
February 17, 2026 — Liberty Mutual Settles
Liberty Mutual agrees to a $13.4 million settlement of a case filed April 10, 2020. Former participants were told to file claims by August 22, 2026.
September 9, 2026 — Liberty Mutual Final Order
A Final Order and Judgment is filed in No. 3:20-cv-30056-MGM. As of October 2026, no payment date is posted.
Three Things to Watch For
ERISA settlements pay into retirement accounts, which makes them a natural cover for account-takeover attempts:
“Confirm your 401(k) login to receive your settlement”
For current participants, the money is credited by the plan's recordkeeper automatically. No administrator needs your 401(k) username, password or a one-time code. Anyone asking for them is trying to empty the account.
Look-alike settlement websites
Each real settlement names its administrator and case number on its site and in the court notice — Liberty Mutual's, for example, is run by Analytics Consulting LLC under No. 3:20-cv-30056-MGM. Match the case number to the notice before entering anything.
“Late claim” or “expedited payout” fees
Once a claim deadline has passed, such as Liberty Mutual's on August 22, 2026, nobody can sell you a late filing, and court-approved fees come out of the fund itself. A request for an upfront fee is a red flag.
ERISA Settlements — Questions People Actually Ask
Short answers to the questions people ask most about this case.
What is the amount of the Liberty Mutual ERISA settlement payout per person?
No per-person figure has been published. The gross fund is $13,400,000; fees (requested at no more than one-third), up to $430,000 in costs, administration and taxes come off first. The rest is divided under the Plan of Allocation, so your share depends on your account during April 10, 2014 through December 31, 2025.
When will the Liberty Mutual ERISA settlement be paid?
A Final Order and Judgment was filed September 9, 2026. Under the notice, payments are made only after final approval and after any appeal is resolved. As of October 2026 the official site posts no payment date. Current participants will see a credit in their plan account; former participants who filed by August 22, 2026 get a check or rollover.
Who qualifies for ERISA?
ERISA covers most retirement and health plans that private employers voluntarily set up. According to the Department of Labor it generally does not cover plans run by government entities or churches for their employees, or plans kept only to comply with workers' compensation, unemployment or disability laws.
Do you actually get money from an ERISA class action?
Yes, if you are in the class and the settlement is approved — but often less than people expect, because the fund is shared across all participants. Current participants are usually paid automatically into their account. Former participants sometimes must file a claim: Liberty Mutual and Salesforce required one; AmerisourceBergen did not.
Is an ERISA lawsuit the same as a disability or health claim denial?
No. A denial case is an individual ERISA lawsuit to recover benefits under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B); there is no settlement to join. The plan must give you at least 60 days to appeal internally, or 180 days for a group health plan, and the appeal usually comes first.
How long do employees have to file an ERISA class action lawsuit?
For fiduciary-breach claims, 29 U.S.C. 1113 sets the earlier of six years from the last act of the breach or three years from actual knowledge, with a longer rule for fraud or concealment.
Why are there so many 401(k) ERISA lawsuits right now?
One reason is legal: on April 17, 2025, in Cunningham v. Cornell, the Supreme Court made it easier for prohibited-transaction claims to survive an early motion to dismiss. More fee and forfeiture claims now reach discovery, which is when settlements tend to happen. Our 401(k) lawsuit page tracks individual cases; employer-specific matters are on pages such as U.S. Bank and United Airlines.
What should I do if I got an ERISA settlement notice?
Check whether it calls you a current or former participant. If former, note the claim deadline — missing it means no payment while still being bound by the release. Keep your mailing address current with the administrator, and verify the case number on the official site before submitting anything.
About This Information
- Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology. Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
- $236 billion in real payouts analyzed · See what we found
This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Lawsuit status, eligibility, and compensation can change. Settlement Insight is not a law firm and does not represent any party. Consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation.
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