Pioneer Natural Resources 401(k) Class Action Settlement

Existing and previous Pioneer Natural Resources employees have managed to reach a $500,000 class action settlement to resolve legal claims that their company has violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Pioneer Natural Resources is a hydrocarbon extraction company. Class Members of the lawsuit include employees of the company. These employees participated in its 401(k) program that took place between 28 June 2011 and 10 December 2018, with plan beneficiaries at that time.

Case Summary

Lead plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against this company and their retirement plan administrators. They accused the company of mismanaging their 401(k) plans were to violate the Employee Retirement Income Security Act or ERISA.

ERISA is a federal law, and it needs employers as well as plan administrators to meet a specific set of standards when managing retirement, pension plans, and disability insurance plans.

Plaintiffs put an allegation on their employer and retirement administrators of charging extra fees and providing high-cost mutual funds as investment choices.

As per the Pioneer Natural Resources ERISA class action settlement lawsuit, a massive amount of money was spent on recordkeeping and managing administration services.

The Pioneer Natural Resources class action disputed that the extra administration fees and inferior investment choices were a breach of fiduciary duty on the part of Pioneer Natural Resources and retirement plan administrators. The plaintiffs also alleged that the fees and inferior investments had forced them to pay thousands in precious retirement funds annually.

Potential Amount

Pioneer Natural Resources and other defendants in the lawsuit agreed to settle the claims by paying an amount of $500,000.

Under the decided terms of the settlement agreement, Class Members will receive cash awards according to their average year-ending 401(k) account balances between 31 December 2011 and 31 December 2018.

The award amount for each member will also depend on the number of valid claims submitted. But no Class Member will be awarded less than $10.

Class Members will get automatically enrolled in the Pioneer Natural Resources ERISA class action settlement. Those who do not own an active 401(k) account will have to complete a basic Claim Form. In the form, they have to update or confirm their address with the settlement administrator. Class Members who received no Notice and Claim Form have to contact the settlement administrator at (303) 757-3300.