Cornell’s $225,000 Retirement Plan Settlement Gets Early OK

Cornell University can pay $225,000 to settle a 28,000-person class action challenging the fees and investment options in the school’s retirement plan, after a preliminary approval order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The settlement resolves the case’s sole remaining claim: a challenge to the plan’s decision to offer retail share classes of certain target-date funds. Judge P. Kevin Castel signed off on the settlement in an order docketed Wednesday, one year after he resolved most of the case in Cornell’s favor.

The $225,000 settlement amount represents nearly 80% of the plan participants’ ...