VCA Inc. and its 401(k) plan fiduciaries agreed to settle allegations by participants that the plan charged "excessive" administrative and investment management fees, according to a Nov. 14 filing in a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Terms were not disclosed in Smith et al. vs. VCA Inc. et al. The parties told the court they would provide details within 45 days.
The plaintiffs sued the veterinary hospital management company in November 2021, and U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu rejected the defendants' request that the complaint be dismissed.
As of Dec. 31, 2019, the VCA Inc. Salary Savings Plan had $563 million in assets, according to the plan's final Form 5500 filing.
As of July 24, 2020, the plan was merged into the Mars Veterinary Health 401(k) Savings Plan, Hackettstown, N.J. That plan had $1.1 billion in assets on Dec. 31, 2021, according to its most recent Form 5500 filing. Mars Inc., McLean, Va., purchased VCA in 2017. Mars and the Mars plan are not defendants.
