The lawsuit, filed in April 2016, alleged Wheaton erroneously treated its pension plan as a “church plan” exempt from ERISA.
The parties entered a class-action settlement agreement Sept. 1, 2017, and the court preliminarily approved the settlement Sept. 13, 2017. The court gave final approval to the proposed settlement after holding a fairness hearing on Jan. 16.
The parties inked the settlement agreement about three months after the U.S. Supreme Court held church-affiliated hospitals do not have to comply with ERISA.
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