A Georgia federal district court has granted preliminary approval of a nearly $48 million class action case settlement after a decade of litigation. The agreement, if approved, will compensate about 189 former NCR Corp. executives who alleged that the software company failed to honor its promise to provide lifetime annuity payments to retired executives.
The settlement consists of about $43.52 million in damages and about $4.23 million in attorney’s fees. The class affected by the settlement includes all former participants, as well as their spouses and beneficiaries, in certain NCR retirement plans who received or would have received lump-sum payments after the plans’ termination.
The judge characterized the proposed settlement as reasonable, fair, and adequate to compensate the class. A final hearing on the fairness of the settlement will occur in November.
Former NCR senior employees initially filed a breach of contract claim against the company in November 2015 over plans that had guaranteed lifetime annuities with fixed monthly payments for life. NCR terminated the plan in the early 2010s due to concerns about its pension liabilities and debts. In conjunction with the termination, NCR paid the participants lump sums based on actuarial calculations rather than monthly annuities for life. NCR also deducted 5% from the lump-sum payments to cover its debt obligations.
In 2024, the judge granted summary judgment in favor of the employees on their breach-of-contract claim, reasoning that the plans didn’t permit NCR to convert the lifetime annuity to lump-sum payments based on actuarial assumptions. She found the plan language clearly stated what NCR promised to pay the retirees. NCR appealed the summary judgment order to the Eleventh Circuit, which upheld the lower court’s order.
The case is Jon Hoak et al. v. Plan Administrator of the Plans of NCR Corp., Case Number 1:15-cv 03983, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
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