Vanderbilt’s $14.5 Million ERISA Deal Gets Final OK After Hiccup

Vanderbilt University’s $14.5 million class settlement with participants in its retirement plan received final court approval from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Chief Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. signed off on the deal Oct. 22, calling it fair, reasonable, and adequate. Crenshaw also awarded the participants’ attorneys at Schlichter Bogard & Denton LLP and Hawkins Hogan PLC nearly $5 million in attorneys’ fees and expenses.

The deal, which is expected to benefit about 40,000 people covered by Vanderbilt’s retirement plan, resolves allegations that the school’s retirement plan charged unnecessary administrative fees and offered expensive ...