Frontier Communications $14M 401(k) Class Action Settlement

Retirement Plans · Pending — Automatic Payment

Current Status

There is no claim form: payments are automatic if the court grants final approval. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny granted preliminary approval on August 18, 2026, and postcard notices went out to class members on October 9, 2026. The final approval hearing is scheduled for January 7, 2027, at 10:00 a.m. in Hartford, Connecticut. Former participants who no longer have a Plan account have until December 8, 2026 to submit a Rollover Form if they want a direct rollover rather than a check. No payment date had been announced as of October 15, 2026.

What Changed Recently?

Frontier Communications Corporation and the Retirement Investment & Administration Committee agreed to pay $14,050,000 to resolve a 2018 class action over the Verizon stock held in the Frontier Communications 401(k) Savings Plan. The settlement agreement is dated July 10, 2026, the same day the named plaintiff asked the court for preliminary approval. Judge Chatigny granted that request on August 18, 2026, finding the deal fair, reasonable and adequate on a preliminary basis, certifying a settlement class and appointing Rust Consulting, Inc. as the settlement administrator.

Rust Consulting mailed short-form postcard notices on October 9, 2026. Bloomberg Law, citing the preliminary approval motion, reported that the settlement covers about 10,000 people who held Verizon stock in their Frontier 401(k) accounts.

The preliminary approval order first set the final approval hearing for December 10, 2026. The court docket shows a motion concerning the hearing filed September 24, 2026 and an order on it the next day, and the official settlement website now lists January 7, 2027; the objection and appearance deadlines on the website track that later date.

What Is the Lawsuit About?

The case, Reidt v. Frontier Communications Corp., was filed on September 11, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants allowed the Plan to become overly concentrated in Verizon common stock, mainly through the Verizon Stock Fund, and that this breached their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), including the duty to diversify plan investments.

The complaint describes how that stock reached a Frontier plan in the first place. In 2010, Verizon spun off its local landline business in predominantly rural areas of 14 states, which then merged with Frontier. According to the complaint, Verizon management employees who became Frontier employees brought their savings-plan accounts with them, and those accounts were merged into the Frontier Plan by the end of 2011. A second deal, which closed on April 1, 2016, moved Verizon's wireline operations in California, Texas and Florida to Frontier, and the complaint says it transferred more Verizon savings-plan assets into the Plan. The complaint alleges that Verizon stock made up more than 13% of the Plan's total holdings at the end of 2016.

The defendants deny all of the claims and admit no wrongdoing. They contend that the Plan's fiduciaries monitored the Verizon Stock Fund, that the fund was open only to legacy Verizon employees, and that legacy stock funds are not uncommon after spin-offs and mergers. The settlement website says the Verizon Stock Fund was removed from the Plan in April 2018. The court has not decided who was right; the settlement resolves the claims without a ruling on the merits.

Who Qualifies?

The court certified a settlement class of participants in and beneficiaries of the Frontier Communications 401(k) Savings Plan, along with any Alternate Payee of a participant under a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO), at any time from December 12, 2012 through April 30, 2018, whose Plan accounts included investments in Verizon common stock, including the Verizon Stock Fund. The settlement website describes the participants as vested participants.