Participants in the Hess Corporation Employees’ Savings Plan who invested in certain funds from February 12, 2018 through October 9, 2026 are covered by an $850,000 Hess 401(k) ERISA settlement that a federal judge preliminarily approved on October 9, 2026. Current participants will be credited automatically; former participants will need a claim form, and no claim deadline has been published yet.
What Is This About?
U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas granted preliminary approval on October 9, 2026 to an $850,000 settlement in Wagner v. Hess Corporation, No. 6:24-cv-00004-H, a class action over the Hess Corporation Employees’ Savings Plan, the company’s 401(k) plan. The same order certified a settlement class, approved the notice program and claim form, and appointed Analytics Consulting, LLC as settlement administrator. The court said a separate order setting out the notice schedule and other relief would follow.The plaintiff, a former Hess employee and plan participant, alleges that the Hess Corporation Investment Committee, which selected and monitored the plan’s investments, breached its fiduciary duty of prudence under ERISA by keeping certain funds in the plan instead of replacing them with similar or identical options that had lower expense ratios, and that the excess fees cost participants millions of dollars. The allegations have not been proven, and the court has made no finding that the defendants breached any duty.
Free settlement alerts
Get notified when new class actions open to claims
Join thousands of readers who get the latest class action settlements you may qualify for — delivered straight to your inbox.
Who Is in the Settlement Class?
The settlement class covers everyone who participated in the Hess Corporation Employees’ Savings Plan and invested in any of the “Challenged Funds” at any time from February 12, 2018 through the date of the preliminary approval order, along with beneficiaries of deceased participants and alternate payees under a qualified domestic relations order. The defendants, the members of Hess’s board of directors and of the Investment Committee during the class period, and their beneficiaries are excluded. The plaintiff told the court the class has more than 6,000 members.The Challenged Funds are a defined set of plan investments that lost value during the class period. The court previously declined to approve a version of the deal that covered all plan participants, and the class was narrowed so that people who held only funds that were not harmed, or that gained value, would not share in the recovery.
How Would the Money Be Paid?
Court-approved attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses and a service award come out of the $850,000 gross amount first. Class counsel, Foulston Siefkin LLP and Figari + Davenport LLP, plans to request up to one-third of the gross amount in fees plus expenses, and the named plaintiff has asked for a service award of up to $15,000. The settlement does not depend on the court granting any of those requests.Each class member’s share of the remaining net amount is based on that person’s aggregate balance in the Challenged Funds divided by the aggregate balance of all class members. Class members who still have a plan account will have their share credited to it automatically. Former participants will need to submit a claim form, with documentation where required, to the administrator. In support of the deal, the plaintiff estimated that the settlement amount is nearly 70% of the damages he could currently obtain at trial.
The court certified the class as a limited-fund class, so members cannot opt out, and it stayed related litigation while the settlement is pending. The order approved a procedure for class members to object.
What Happens Next?
Notice to the class, the claim form for former participants, and the deadlines for claims and objections are to follow under the court’s separate scheduling order. As of October 27, 2026, no settlement website had been published. Judge Hendrix will hold the final approval hearing on February 17, 2027, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 216 of the federal courthouse in San Angelo, Texas. Credits and payments would come only after final approval.Other retirement-plan cases now in the approval process include the Grainger 401(k) forfeiture settlement and the Cognizant 401(k) ERISA settlement.
Questions
Will current Hess 401(k) participants have to file a claim?
No. According to the court’s order, class members who still have a Hess Employees’ Savings Plan account will have their share credited to that account automatically. Former participants will need to submit a claim form, and the claim deadline has not yet been published.
Can class members opt out of the Hess 401(k) settlement?
No. The court treated the case as a limited-fund action in which class members cannot opt out, and it stayed related litigation while the settlement is considered. Class members can still object to the settlement under the procedure the court approved.
How will the $850,000 be divided?
After court-approved fees, expenses and a service award are deducted, each class member’s share of the net amount is based on that person’s aggregate balance in the challenged funds compared with the aggregate balance of all class members. Class counsel plans to seek up to one-third of the gross amount in fees, plus expenses, and the named plaintiff has requested a service award of up to $15,000.
Does the settlement cover every fund in the Hess 401(k) plan?
No. The class is limited to participants who invested in a defined set of “Challenged Funds” during the class period. The court asked for that narrower definition so that people who held only funds that were not harmed, or that gained value, would not share in the recovery.
Sources
- Memorandum Opinion and Order granting class certification and preliminary approval (ECF No. 115, October 9, 2026)
- Court docket, Wagner v. Hess Corporation, No. 6:24-cv-00004-H, N.D. Tex.
