Walgreens Retirement Plan Class Action Inches Toward Settlement

Walgreen Co. is negotiating a deal to end a 240,000-person ERISA class action challenging the Northern Trust target-date funds in the pharmacy’s 401(k) plan, the parties told a federal judge in Chicago.

The parties want Judge Charles R. Norgle Sr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to pause case deadlines for 30 days while they continue “actively negotiating” an agreement to settle the dispute on a class-wide basis. Their joint motion, filed Tuesday, comes three months after Norgle certified the case as a class action—a move Walgreens didn’t oppose.

The lawsuit claims Walgreens filled ...