Howard University ERISA Settlement

If You Are a Participant or Beneficiary of the
HOWARD UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT PLAN,
a Proposed Class Action Settlement May Affect Your Rights.

• Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Howard University and the Retirement Plan Committee of the Howard University Employees’ Retirement Plan (“Defendants”) provided certain participants and beneficiaries of the Plan with Joint and Survivor Annuity benefits, including Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuities, that were not actuarially equivalent to the Single Life Annuities those participants could have elected at the time they began receiving benefits, as required by the federal pension law known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that the actuarial assumptions, such as life expectancies and interest rates, used by the Plan to convert Single Life Annuities into Joint and Survivor Annuities resulted in benefits that were lower in value than required under ERISA. Defendants deny all allegations of wrongdoing, fault, liability, or damages to Plaintiffs or the Class, deny that the actuarial assumptions used by the Plan to calculate benefits were improper in any way, and deny that any Class Member is receiving less than the benefits to which they are entitled under the Plan. Defendants maintain that the Plan has been managed, operated, and administered in compliance with ERISA.

• The Class includes all participants and beneficiaries of the Plan who: (1) are receiving monthly benefit payments as of the Measurement Date (the first day of the month when the Settlement becomes Final), (2) have an Annuity Start Date on or after January 1, 1995, but before January 1, 2025, and (3) are receiving a Joint and Survivor Annuity, including a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity, that is less valuable than it would have been if the participant’s Single Life Annuity had been converted to that form of benefit using the interest rates and mortality tables Plaintiffs claim should have been used. This includes participants receiving Joint and Survivor Annuities, as well as surviving spouses and other beneficiaries receiving survivor annuity benefits derived from a participant’s pension under the Plan.

• The proposed Settlement provides that Defendants will pay the $1,300,000 value of the Settlement, net of amounts awarded for any Plaintiffs’ Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (not to exceed $432,900), any Case Contribution Awards to the two Named Plaintiffs (not to exceed $5,000 each), and other Administrative Expenses, in the form of increased monthly pension benefits to be paid to Class Members under the Plan. These increased benefits will be paid during the lifetimes of the Class Members and, where applicable, their designated survivor beneficiaries. In addition to receiving increased monthly benefits on a going-forward basis, Class Members will also receive retroactive lump sum payments reflecting the additional monthly benefit amounts that would have been payable beginning as of the Measurement Date and continuing through the date the increased benefits are implemented.