REI Ex-Workers Sue Over Retirement Plan’s Use of Forfeitures (1)

Two former REI employees filed a proposed class action saying the retailer mismanages their $1 billion retirement plan by using the money forfeited by departing workers to reduce the contributions it’s required to make to the plan.

REI—formally known as Recreational Equipment Inc.—used plan forfeitures to fulfill its contribution obligations in violation of plan language requiring that this money first be used to pay amounts owed to rehired participants and pay for the plan’s administrative expenses, the employees said. This failure cost the plan more than $5.8 million between 2018 and 2023, according to complaint filed Tuesday in the US ...