Dignity Health Settlement

The facts of the case and how it proceeded are summarized in the Class Notice, which you can access here. In short, Plaintiff Starla Rollins filed this case in 2013, against Dignity Health and others, alleging that they were improperly treating the Dignity Health Pension Plan (the “Plan”) as a “church plan” and were not complying with the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). Rollins alleged that as a result, the Plan was placing participants and beneficiaries at risk by, among other things, underfunding the Plan, failing to furnish Plan participants with ERISA-required notices, failing to allow certain employees’ benefits to vest in less than five years, and failing to purchase insurance for the Plan from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (“PBGC”). Dignity and the other defendants denied all these claims.

Rollins obtained favorable rulings in the District Court and the Court of Appeals, but the United States Supreme Court reversed those rulings and remanded the rest of the case back to the District Court. The litigation began to move forward again, with additional claims by an added plaintiff, Patricia Wilson. However, at the same time, the parties began a mediation process that led to a proposed settlement. After some further proceedings, three new plaintiffs intervened in the lawsuit as plaintiffs, negotiated additional terms, and the parties all agreed to the Settlement in its current form.  
 

You are in the Settlement Class if you are a member of this group: 

All participants, former participants, or beneficiaries of the Dignity Health Pension Plan as of the date of full execution of this Settlement Agreement. 

The Settlement Agreement was fully executed on April 13, 2021.

The Settlement Class includes two subgroups, the Vesting Subclass and the PEP Plus Claimants, defined below. 

Vesting Subclass: The members of the Settlement Class who are former Participants in the Cash Balance portion of the Plan who terminated employment on or after April 1, 2013, and on or before March 27, 2019, and completed at least three (3) but less than five (5) years of vesting service.

PEP Plus Claimants: All participants, former participants, or beneficiaries of the Plan as of January 1, 2014, whose benefit accruals were calculated using the “PEP Plus” formula and who, between January 1 and April 1, 2014, were not members of the labor union that collectively bargained with Dignity regarding the 2014 changes to PEP Plus accrual formula and who were negatively impacted by the 2014 changes.

The Settlement Class does not include any participants or their beneficiaries who become eligible to participate in the Plan after the date of full execution of the Settlement Agreement.
 

The largest part of the Settlement, which has a value greatly in excess of One Hundred Million Dollars, is in the form of minimum deposits of funds to the Plan over five years. These deposits will not result in an increase of individual Class Members’ retirement benefits, but instead enhance the funding of the Plan and the Plan’s ability to pay benefits in the future.  

Certain members of the Settlement Class, who are either PEP Plus Claimants or members of the Vesting Subclass, have additional claims for which they will receive a one-time payment.  

Please refer to the Settlement for a full description of the benefits of the Settlement, as well as the release of claims that Dignity will receive.
 

The law firms of Keller Rohrback L.L.P. and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC have been appointed as Settlement Class Counsel by the Court to represent Named Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class (“Class Counsel”). The law firm of Izard, Kindall & Raabe, LLP has been appointed as Vesting Subclass Counsel by the Court to represent Intervenors and the Vesting Subclass (“Vesting Subclass Counsel”).

You will not be charged directly by these lawyers. 

The Court has approved Class Counsel and Vesting Subclass Counsel's attorneys’ fees and expenses, and Incentive Awards for the Named Plaintiffs and the Intervenors. These amounts will be paid by the Defendants in addition to the rest of the Settlement. 

If you are a Settlement Class Member and you have questions regarding the Settlement, please contact Class Counsel at (888) 689-1315 or via email at DignitySettlement@KellerRohrback.com. 

If you are a member of the Vesting Subclass and you have questions regarding the Settlement, please contact Vesting Subclass Counsel, Izard, Kindall & Raabe, LLP, (860) 493-6292, or email, ofaircloth@ikrlaw.com, or visit https://ikrlaw.com/file/DignityHealth.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT WITH QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SETTLEMENT. THE COURT PERSONNEL WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.