A federal court judge in Wilmington, N.C., has granted final approval to a $775,000 payment by Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC to settle an ERISA lawsuit filed by former employees who contended a company 401(k) plan charged excessive investment fees and failed to seek lower-price investments.
U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III approved the agreement on Wednesday. The judge approved a preliminary settlement on April 18, pending a final hearing.
"The settlement was negotiated vigorously and at arm's-length, under the auspices of the mediator, by defense counsel, on the one hand, and the named plaintiffs and class counsel on behalf of the settlement class, on the other hand," the judge wrote on Sept. 28.
Without an agreement, plan participants "faced the expense, risk, and uncertainty of extended litigation," he wrote.
The settlement covers anyone who participated in the 401(k) plan from April 15, 2014, to the judge's final approval.
The former employees sued the contract medical research company in April 2020 in the case of Kendall et al. vs. Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC et al. The company had been privately held, but it went public in February 2020, changing its name to PPD Inc. It was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in December 2021.
The Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC Retirement Savings Plan, Wilmington, N.C. had assets of $1.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020, according to the most recent Form 5500.
