Boeing 401(k) fiduciary breach lawsuit settled

Attorneys for The Boeing Co., Chicago, and participants in a Boeing 401(k) plan reached a provisional settlement in a case in which the participants had alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by plan administrators, according to a notice filed in a federal court in East St. Louis, Ill. The notice filed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel didn't describe the terms of the provisional settlement. The notice said the parties reached an agreement before a trial was scheduled to have started Wednesday. "The parties have not informed the court as to the contours of the provisional settlement at this time," Ms. Rosenstengel's notice said in reference to the case, Spano et al. vs. The Boeing Co. et al. "There has been a preliminary settlement, but the terms are confidential," said Charles "Chaz" Bickers, a Boeing spokesman. "We are pleased to have reached this provisional settlement for the benefit of 190,000 employees and retirees of Boeing," Jerome Schlichter, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs wrote in an e-mail statement. Mr. Schlichter is the founding and managing partner of the law firm Schlichter, Bogard & Denton. The settlement marks the latest step in a case originally filed in September 2006 by current and former participants in a Boeing 401(k) plan. The plan had about $46 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, according to its most recent 11-K filing. In previous court filings, the plaintiffs alleged that the Boeing plan administrators breached their fiduciary duties by "causing or allowing unreasonable fees to be charged against assets of the plan." They also alleged that plan executives "caused the plan to pay unreasonable administrative fees" for record keeping. Robert Steyer and Barry B. Burr are with sister publication Pensions & Investments. Data editor Timothy Pollard also contributed to this story.