People who participated in the Caliber Holdings LLC Retirement Savings Plan, Caliber Collision’s 401(k), at any time from September 10, 2019 through September 14, 2026 will be paid automatically from the $750,000 Caliber Collision 401(k) forfeiture class action settlement if it is approved; there is no claim form to file. Objections are due December 15, 2026, and the fairness hearing is set for January 14, 2027.
Current Status
There is no claim form: payments are automatic, and class members cannot opt out. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas preliminarily approved the settlement on September 14, 2026, and the fairness hearing is set for January 14, 2027, at 10:00 a.m. Written objections must be received by the court by December 15, 2026. No final approval order or payment date had been announced as of November 6, 2026.Free settlement alerts
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What Changed Recently?
Chief Judge Amos L. Mazzant III preliminarily approved the settlement of Fordyce v. Wand Newco 3, Inc. d/b/a Caliber Collision, Case No. 4:25-cv-00997-ALM, on September 14, 2026, and notices are going out to plan participants by email or postcard. The parties signed the settlement agreement on June 26, 2026, after a May 14, 2026 mediation before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn, while Caliber’s motion to dismiss the case was still pending.The lawsuit, filed September 10, 2025, concerns forfeitures: the unvested company matching contributions that employees leave behind when they depart before working the three years the plan requires to vest. The complaint alleges that Caliber’s plan fiduciaries used more than $7 million in forfeitures from 2019 through 2024 to reduce Caliber’s own matching contributions while using about $180,000 to pay plan expenses, leaving participants to cover those expenses from their accounts. It alleges breaches of the ERISA duties of prudence and loyalty, prohibited transactions and violations of ERISA’s anti-inurement rule. Caliber denies all of the claims, says the plan was managed prudently, and argues that more than 60 years of legal guidance permit using forfeitures to offset employer contributions. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
Who Qualifies?
The settlement class covers everyone who participated in the Caliber Holdings LLC Retirement Savings Plan, including its predecessor and successor plans, at any time from September 10, 2019 through September 14, 2026. It also includes the beneficiary of a deceased participant and any alternate payee who receives part of a participant’s account under a qualified domestic relations order.The class was certified for settlement as a non-opt-out class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1), so every member is bound by the settlement whether or not they receive a payment. The complaint describes the plan as having more than 34,000 participants and nearly $700 million in assets as of the end of 2023.
How Much Can You Get?
The $750,000 fund first pays court-approved attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses, administration costs, the independent fiduciary’s fees, taxes on the fund and a case contribution award for the class representative. Class Counsel will ask for fees of no more than one-third of the fund, or $250,000, plus expenses, and an award of up to $5,000 for the class representative.What remains is split pro rata by each class member’s “Expense Balance,” the total administrative expenses, including recordkeeping fees, deducted from that person’s plan account during the class period. A larger share of the plan’s expenses means a larger share of the settlement. No per-person estimate has been published.
There is a minimum. A former participant whose first-round share is under $10, or a current participant whose share is under $1, receives nothing, and the settlement administrator redistributes that money among everyone above the cutoff.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
None. There is no claim form, and no records are needed. Shares are calculated from the data the plan’s recordkeeper holds for each account. Former participants who have moved since leaving Caliber can update their mailing address through the official settlement website so a check reaches them.What Is the Deadline?
There is no claim deadline and no opt-out deadline. The only deadline is for objections: a written objection must be filed with the clerk of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas so that it is received by December 15, 2026, with copies sent to Class Counsel and Caliber’s counsel. Anyone who wants to speak at the hearing must also file a Notice of Intention to Appear by the same date. The notice does not specify a time zone.How Do You Take Action?
Nothing needs to be filed to be paid. The official settlement website carries the long-form notice, the settlement agreement, the plan of allocation and the complaint. What an objection must contain, and where it goes, are set out in the notice embedded below.Class members with a positive plan balance when payments are calculated will have their share deposited into their Caliber 401(k) account and invested according to their current investment elections, or the plan’s default fund if they have none. Former participants, and anyone whose account closes before payment, will receive a check mailed by the settlement administrator.
What Happens Next?
An independent fiduciary must review the settlement and approve it on the plan’s behalf at least 30 days before the January 14, 2027 fairness hearing. At the hearing, which the court may hold by phone or video and may move without further notice, Judge Mazzant will decide whether to grant final approval and how much to award in fees, expenses and the case contribution award. If approved, the order becomes final 35 days after it is entered unless there is an appeal; the administrator then calculates and distributes the shares. No payment date had been announced as of November 6, 2026.Sources and Verification
- Official settlement website — Caliber 401(k) Settlement
- Long Form Notice of Class Action Settlement (PDF)
- Class Action Settlement Agreement and Plan of Allocation, Fordyce v. Wand Newco 3, Inc. d/b/a Caliber Collision, No. 4:25-cv-00997-ALM (E.D. Tex.), ECF No. 36-2, filed June 26, 2026
- Amended Class Action Complaint, ECF No. 12, filed December 1, 2025
Questions
Why can’t Caliber 401(k) participants opt out of this settlement?
The court preliminarily certified the class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1), which is used for claims brought on behalf of a retirement plan as a whole. Because the claims belong to the plan, separate lawsuits by individual participants could produce conflicting results, so no one may exclude themselves. Class members who disagree with the terms can object instead.
Why would some Caliber plan participants receive nothing?
Shares are based on the plan expenses deducted from each person’s account during the class period. Under the plan of allocation, a former participant whose first-round share is below $10, or a current participant whose share is below $1, receives no payment, and that money is redistributed to everyone else. People who paid little in plan expenses, such as those with small or short-lived accounts, are the ones most likely to fall below the cutoff.
What is the independent fiduciary’s role?
Because the settlement releases claims that belong to the plan, an independent fiduciary with no ties to either side must review and approve it on the plan’s behalf at least 30 days before the fairness hearing. If the independent fiduciary does not approve, Caliber may either waive that condition or let the settlement terminate.
What happens to uncashed checks and money that cannot be delivered?
Checks to former participants expire 180 days after they are issued. Money from uncashed or undeliverable checks, and any amount left after expenses, goes back into the Caliber plan to pay plan administrative expenses. None of it returns to Caliber.
