Astellas Workers Get Nod for $9.5 Million Aon 401(k) Settlement

A $9.5 million settlement benefiting current and former Astellas Pharma Inc. employees received preliminary court approval, paving the way for resolution of their challenge to a 401(k) plan redesign that introduced funds from an Aon PLC unit.

The deal is expected to benefit about 4,000 people who were covered by the Astellas 401(k) plan between October 2016 and March 2023. It requires subsidiary Astellas US LLC to use a competitive bidding process for the plan’s investment advisory services and to instruct the plan’s recordkeeper that it can’t use participant data to market unrelated products and services.

Judge Martha M. Pacold ...