Goodyear ERISA Litigation

The In re Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company ERISA Litigation Complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, on behalf of Plaintiffs and a class (the "Class") who were participants in or beneficiaries of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Savings Plan for Salaried Employees or the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Savings Plan for Bargaining Unit Employees (the "Plans"), and their predecessor plans, for whose individual accounts the Plans held shares of Goodyear company stock, at any time between April 15, 1998 and the present (the "Class Period").

The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, the Defendants breached their fiduciary duties to Plaintiffs and the Class members by:

• Imprudently continuing to invest Plan assets in grossly overvalued Goodyear stock,
• Making materially false and misleading statements regarding Goodyear stock during the Class Period to Plan participants, and
• Failing to disclose to Plan participants and beneficiaries the imprudence of investing in the Goodyear stock fund and/or Goodyear stock, even though they regularly communicated with Plan participants concerning purchases of the Goodyear stock fund and/or Goodyear stock. 

Settlement Update:

On October 11, 2007, Plaintiffs filed their motion for preliminary approval of a Settlement between the Lead ERISA Plaintiffs and all Defendants. On December 12, 2007, the Court issued an order granting preliminary approval of the Settlement. As part of the Settlement, the Defendants agree to pay the sum of $8,375,000 (Eight Million Three Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars) in cash from available insurance policies. After payment of and/or establishment of reserves for taxes, Court-approved costs, attorneys’ fees, and expenses (including any Court-approved compensation to be paid to the Lead Plaintiffs), the Settlement proceeds will be paid to a Commingled Trust for the Plan. Once implementation expenses have been paid, the remaining amount will be allocated to the plan accounts of members of the Settlement Class according to a Plan of Allocation approved by the Court. If necessary, a subtrust will be created for those members of the Settlement Class who no longer have Plan accounts. In addition, the Settlement contains several non-monetary settlement terms relating to current and future plan participants.

At the Fairness Hearing held on October 16, 2008, the Court approved the Settlement and the Plan of Allocation. On October 22, 2008, the Court issued an order granting Plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees, costs and class representative compensation. The appeals period in this matter has expired with no appeal being filed and as such, the Settlement has become Final.

For further information please visit the Goodyear Settlement Website at: www.goodyearERISAsettlement.com.

For definitions of certain of the capitalized terms above, please see the Class Action Settlement Agreement under the “Case Documents” link below.

Case Documents