Walgreens Inks $13.75 Million Deal in Northern Trust 401(k) Suit

Walgreen Co. will pay $13.75 million and remove a suite of target date funds from Northern Trust from its 401(k) plan, ending an ERISA class action covering nearly 200,000 people, the parties told a federal judge in Chicago.

The Oct. 22 deal resolves allegations that Walgreens filled its retirement plan with expensive and poorly performing Northern Trust funds that led to steep losses. Walgreens allowed nearly 40% of its retirement plan assets to be invested in these funds, which underperformed comparable alternatives for nearly a decade, according to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit.

Walgreens has already removed the ...