Free Reply to Response to Motion - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA Barbara Allen; Richard Dippold; Melvin Jones;) Donald McCarty; Richard Scates and Walter G.) West, individually and on behalf of all others) No. CV04-0424 PHX ROS similarly situated, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) [Amended Proposed] Order re: ) Plaintiffs Motion for Class vs. ) Action Certification ) Honeywell Retirement Earnings Plan; Honeywell) Secured Benefit Plan; Plan Administrator of) Honeywell Retirement Earnings Plan; Plan) Administrator of Honeywell Secured Benefit) Plan, ) ) Defendants. ) ) THIS MATTER coming before this Court on Plaintiffs Motion for Class Action Certification; IT IS HEREBY ordered that the following class and subclasses are certified: All former participants of the Retirement Plan for Employees of the Garrett Corporation and Its Participating Subsidiaries ( Garrett Retirement Plan ) and the Severance Plan for

Case 2:04-cv-00424-ROS

Document 215-4

Filed 07/24/2006

Page 1 of 4

Employees of the Garrett Corporation and Its Participating Subsidiaries( Garrett Severance Plan ) ( Garrett Plans ) who became vested participants in the Signal Companies Inc. Retirement Plan ( Signal Retirement Plan ) or the Garrett Secured Benefit Accountof the Signal Companies, Inc. Savings and Stock Purchase Plan ( SBA Plan ), their surviving spouses and/or beneficiaries who are or may become eligible for benefits under the Plans. Subclass A: Members of the Class for whom the calculation of minimum benefits under the Signal Retirement Plan without an offset based on their benefits under the Secured Benefit Plan ( SBA Offset ) would have resulted or will result in a higher benefit than the benefit paid or to be paid. Subclass B: Members of the Class who had more than 35 years of credited service under the Plans and whose retirement benefits were calculated without a fractional reduction in the SBA Offset. Subclass C: Members of the Class who were active employees on or after July 1, 2000. Subclass D: Members of the Class who had administrative expenses deducted from their SBA benefits. This class and subclasses are certified for the following claims granted in favor of Plaintiffs on summary judgment: Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated 29 U.S.C. § 1054(g) by amending the Garrett Retirement Plan to retroactively increase the interest rate used for

Case 2:04-cv-00424-ROS

Document 215-4

Filed 07/24/2006

Page 2 of 4

the purpose of calculating the Secured Benefit Account offset; applying a Social Security offset attributable to years of service worked prior to introduction of that offset; and eliminating the fractional reduction to the Secured Benefit Account offset for participants with more than 35 years of service (Subclass B); Plaintiffs' claim that the Defendants violated 29 U.S.C. §§ 1054(g) and (h) by amending the Signal Retirement Plan to provide for a Secured Benefit Account offset to the Plan's minimum benefit (Subclass A); Plaintiffs' claim that the Defendants violated the terms of the Signal Retirement Plan by applying a Secured Benefit Account offset to the Plan's minimum benefit formulas (Subclass A). The class and subclasses are also certified for the following pending claims: Plaintiffs claims that Defendant s retroactive application of amendments to the Plans imposing the Social Security offset, changing interest rates used to calculate the SBA offset and eliminating the fractional reduction to the SBA offset (Subclass B) constitute breach Defendants contractual promises to Plaintiffs and whether Plaintiffs are entitled to judgment for Defendants breaches of contract under ERISA §§ 502(a)(1)(B) and (a)(3); Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated the terms of the Plan and ERISA s claim procedure and disclosure requirements and applicable regulations by delaying and failing to provide Plaintiffs with Plan documents; Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated ERISA §§ 204(g) and (h) and breached their contractual promises to Plaintiffs by imposing administrative fees on their Secured

Case 2:04-cv-00424-ROS

Document 215-4

Filed 07/24/2006

Page 3 of 4

Benefits beginning in 1993 (Subclass D); Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated the terms of the Plan and ERISA by failing to adjust Plaintiffs benefits and pay them retroactive benefits plus interest for the claim granted in the administrative process; Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated ERISA and the terms of the Plan by reducing accrued benefits by amendments made in 2000 which resulted in employees service prior to 1984 being disregarded and caused some Plaintiffs to make benefit elections and decisions based on incorrect benefit calculations (Subclass C); Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated the ERISA s written plan requirements, ERISA § 402, and Plaintiffs claims that Defendants violated ERISA § 208, ERISA s merger requirements. IT IS FURTHER ordered that Martin & Bonnett is certified as class counsel.

Case 2:04-cv-00424-ROS

Document 215-4

Filed 07/24/2006

Page 4 of 4