Churchill Mortgage Stock Plan Class Action Settles for $850,000

Former employees of Tennessee mortgage lender Churchill Holdings Inc. negotiated an $850,000 class settlement in a lawsuit claiming their employee stock ownership plan was forced to overpay for shares purchased from the company’s chief executive.

The proposed deal, which would provide gross payments of about $850 per class member, would resolve a certified class action centering on a 2020 transaction in which Churchill’s ESOP paid more than $74 million to purchase a 51% stake in the company—a price workers say was inflated based on faulty financial projections and valuations.

• The workers announced the agreement in a motion filed Thursday in ...