The Fujitsu Group 401(k) Partial Termination LitigationCohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. was class counsel representing a class of former employees who were participants in the Fujitsu Group 401(k) Plan ("the Plan") who were laid off after more than three years of service under the Plan, and who forfeited any portion of their account balances as a result of a January 2002 amendment that eliminated reduction in force vesting for employees of Fujitsu America, Inc. subsidiaries. The Complaint alleged that by adopting the amendment, Fujitsu America, Inc. violated ERISA § 203(c)(1)(B), which requires any amendment changing a vesting schedule to offer participants with more than three years of service an opportunity to vest under the old schedule. The Complaint also alleged that Fujitsu America, Inc. violated its fiduciary duties to plan participants by administering the plan in accordance with the illegal amendment. As relief, the Complaint sought a declaration that the challenged plan amendment was illegal, and an injunction ordering Fujitsu to administer the plan in accordance with ERISA, rather than the plan to the extent of the amendment's illegality. In the course of the litigation, Class Counsel defeated Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, contending that the court did not have jurisdiction to award the relief sought, and that the case should have been brought, if at all, under a different provision of ERISA, only after exhausting the internal claims process established by the Plan. Plaintiffs successfully obtained certification of the class despite Defendant’s opposition. Class Counsel also succeeded on their motion for summary judgment, establishing Defendant’s liability as well as defeating Defendant’s own motion for summary judgment. Thereafter, a settlement was reached by the parties and the Order and Final Judgment Approving the Settlement was issued on January 11, 2006. Based on the information obtained in this litigation, it appears that the amendment may only have affected employees of Fujitsu Network Communications. If you are an employee of another Fujitsu subsidiary and believe that you may have been affected by this or a similar plan amendment, please contact one of the following persons: Marc I. Machiz, Esq.
Abby Gustafson, Paralegal, agustafson@cmht.com
Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C.
1100 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20005
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