KPMG will pay $650,000 to settle a lawsuit by former participants in a company 401(k) plan who accused the company and fiduciaries of multiple ERISA violations.
They accused plan executives of paying excessive record-keeping fees, failing to monitor total plan costs, choosing investments with high costs, and failing to replace certain investments with less expensive and better-performing options.
"Defendants deny each of these claims and deny that they ever engaged in any wrongful conduct," said the settlement notice filed Dec. 15 in a U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., by the plaintiffs' attorney.
The class-action agreement requires court approval in the case of Chong et al. vs. KPMG LLP et al.
The plaintiffs sued in October 2021, later amending their complaint. The parties subsequently met with a mediator, and they arrived at an agreement in principle in October 2023.
The KPMG 401(k) Plan, Montvale, N.J. had assets of $7.2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to the latest Form 5500.
