Ventura Foods LLC has agreed to settle a lawsuit by employees who claimed the company's 401(k) plan charged excessive investment management and record-keeping fees while offering poor-performing investments.
An agreement-in-principle notice was filed Jan. 22 in a U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., by attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants in Gramstad et al. vs. Ventura Foods LLC et al.
Terms were not disclosed in the agreement reached via mediation. The notice said details will be provided to the court by March 22.
The company and its fiduciaries were sued in December 2022. The defendant's petition for dismissing all allegations was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge John W. Holcomb in August.
Ventura Foods LLC Profit Sharing 401(k) Plan, Brea, Calif., had $257 million in assets as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to the lawsuit.
