Marsh & McLennan ERISA Litigation

The In Re Marsh ERISA Litigation Consolidated Complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of Plaintiffs and a class (the "Class") of all persons who were participants in or beneficiaries of the Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Investment Plan ("the Plan") between July 1, 2000 and January 31, 2005 (the "Class Period").

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

  • failing to prudently and loyally manage the Plan's assets;
  • failing to provide participants with complete and accurate information regarding MMC stock sufficient to advise participants of the true risks of investing their retirement savings;
  • failing to properly monitor the performance of their fiduciary appointees, and remove and replace those whose performance was inadequate;
  • violating the co-fiduciary liability; and
  • knowingly participating in a breach of duty.

Not all claims were brought against every Defendant. Please refer to the Case Documents or Contact Us for more information.

The Settlement

The Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement provides for a Gross Settlement Fund of $35 million. This fund will be used to pay the costs of Notice to the Class and administration expenses, an attorneys’ fee and expense award, and a Named Plaintiff case contribution award. The balance of the Gross Settlement Fund, after payment of any taxes, will be the Net Settlement Fund. After the Effective Date of the settlement, the Net Settlement Fund will be transferred to the Plan, subject to a Plan of Allocation to be approved by the Court, for distribution to Class Members.

On November 10, 2009, the Court granted preliminary approval of the Settlement, preliminarily certified a Settlement Class, approved forms and methods of notice to be sent to Class Members, and scheduled a final Fairness Hearing.  If you are a qualified Class Member, you should receive a Notice in the mail in mid-December. You do not need to send in a claim form or take any other action unless you object to the Settlement. The Notice will contain information regarding the Fairness Hearing to be held on January 29, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

At the Fairness Hearing held January 29, 2010, the Court approved the Settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate, certified the Class for settlement purposes, granted Lead Counsel’s motion for an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses, approved case contribution awards to the Named Plaintiffs, approved the Plan of Allocation, rejected the objections received, and entered a Final Order and Judgment.

Please visit the website, www.marshERISAsettlement.com, for additional information concerning the Settlement.

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

Case Documents