Smith v. U.S. Bancorp

Plaintiffs brought this class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and all participants and beneficiaries of the U.S. Bank Pension Plan (the “Plan”) who accrued a pension benefit under the Plan’s “final average pay” formula that was in effect beginning in 2002 and who retired before age 65.  Plaintiffs allege that the reductions Defendants applied to their accrued benefits under the Plan’s “final average pay” formula were excessive, and not the actuarial equivalent of the benefits they would have received of if they retired at age 65 in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”).  Retirees that accrued benefits under the “final average pay” formula that retired before age 65 receive less in their monthly pension checks than they should as a result of the outdated actuarial formulas used by Defendants.

On June 27, 2019, the Court denied Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the case, finding that the facts alleged in the Complaint stated a plausible claim for violations of ERISA.

Plaintiffs filed a motion to certify the class on December 8, 2020, which was denied by the court on May 18, 2021. The individual Plaintiffs and the Defendants agreed to have the case dismissed with prejudice on September 7, 2021.