Astellas US LLC and Aon agreed to settle an ERISA complaint filed by participants in an Astellas 401(k) plan, according to a document filed May 5 in a U.S. District Court in Chicago.
The notice of a settlement in principle, filed by attorneys representing all parties, didn't describe the terms. The lawyers said details would be provided to the court by June 9.
The plaintiffs sued Astellas, a pharmaceutical company, and Aon, the sponsor's investment adviser in July 2020 alleging a series of ERISA violations. At the time, Aon was known as Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting.
In April 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald A. Guzman dismissed some allegations but allowed most to proceed to trial, including plaintiffs' assertions that the plan should have offered lower-cost shares of mutual funds in the plan's investment lineup and that plan executives failed to monitor the process by which Aon selected investments.
The Astellas U.S. Retirement and Savings Plan, Northbrook, Ill., had $1.7 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2021, according to the latest Form 5500.