Poultry Company Workers Nab $4.5 Million Stock Plan Settlement

Employees of an Alabama poultry company negotiated a class settlement worth more than $4.5 million in a lawsuit saying they got a bad deal in a transaction involving their employee stock ownership plan.

The proposed agreement is slated to benefit about 2,000 people covered by the AlaTrade Foods Holdings Inc. stock plan by reducing the plan’s debt to the company by $3.7 million. It also requires the company or its insurer to make an $875,000 cash payment benefiting plan participants.

• The motion seeking settlement approval was filed Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama—less than ...