Participants and beneficiaries of the Carpenters of Western Washington Individual Account Pension Plan or the Carpenters Retirement Plan of Western Washington at any time from August 2, 2016 to May 7, 2020 are covered by a $9.25 million settlement that pays eligible members automatically from plan records; there is no claim form to file. The court granted preliminary approval on October 14, 2026, and the final approval hearing is set for February 17, 2027.
Current Status
There is nothing to file. Judge John H. Chun of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted preliminary approval of the $9.25 million settlement on October 14, 2026, and set the final approval (fairness) hearing for February 17, 2027, at 9:00 a.m. Shares would be paid automatically from plan records if the court grants final approval; no payment date had been announced as of October 15, 2026. The settlement administrator must send notices by November 13, 2026, and the settlement website had not gone live as of October 15, 2026.Free settlement alerts
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What Changed Recently?
On October 14, 2026, Judge Chun granted the plaintiffs' unopposed motion for preliminary approval. The order finds the settlement fair, reasonable and adequate on a preliminary basis, certifies two settlement classes for settlement purposes only, approves the plan of allocation and the notice, appoints Atticus Administration as settlement administrator and Engstrom Lee LLC and Skiermont Derby LLP as class counsel, and schedules the fairness hearing.The lawsuit, filed August 2, 2022, concerns two retirement plans for carpenters in Western Washington. Plaintiffs allege that the Carpenters of Western Washington Board of Trustees and individual trustees, advised by third-party investment advisor Callan LLC, invested nearly 20% of the plans' assets in the Allianz Structured Alpha funds, a pair of hedge funds that traded options and futures tied to the VIX volatility index. Plaintiffs claim that strategy was well outside the plans' conservative risk profile and that the funds' losses in early 2020 caused a net loss of tens of millions of dollars. The complaint asserts breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), along with common-law fiduciary duty and negligence claims.
The defendants deny all of the claims and say they acted prudently and in the best interests of participants and beneficiaries; the settlement is not an admission of fault or liability. The district court first dismissed the case in May 2023, the Ninth Circuit reversed that ruling, and the case returned to the district court in October 2024. After a September 2025 mediation in Seattle that did not settle the case on its own, plaintiffs reached terms with the board defendants in about mid-February 2026 and with Callan in about May 2026.
Who Qualifies?
The order certifies two settlement classes, and a person can belong to both:- IAP Class: all participants and beneficiaries of the Carpenters Individual Account Pension Plan of Western Washington (the IAP, named the Carpenters of Western Washington Individual Account Pension Plan in the case caption) at any time from August 2, 2016 to May 7, 2020, excluding the defendants.
- Retirement Plan Class: all participants and beneficiaries of the Carpenters Retirement Plan of Western Washington at any time from August 2, 2016 to May 7, 2020, excluding the defendants.
Both plans have since been merged into successor plans. The settlement agreement identifies the Southwest Carpenters Retirement Savings Plan as the successor to the IAP and the Western States Carpenters Pension Plan as the successor to the Retirement Plan, and the settlement notice refers to the plans by those successor names. Plaintiffs' counsel reported more than 21,000 IAP class members and more than 20,000 Retirement Plan class members.
Class membership alone does not guarantee a payment. An IAP class member with a $0 IAP balance on December 31, 2019, or a Retirement Plan class member with no SIB Units on that date, receives nothing from that plan's share.
How Much Can You Get?
No per-person estimate has been published. The $9.25 million fund comes from two sources: $5 million from Callan and its insurer, and $4.25 million from the board defendants and their insurers. Before anything is distributed, the fund pays court-approved attorneys' fees of up to one-third of the fund ($3,083,333.33) plus class counsel's litigation costs, service awards of up to $10,000 for each of the three class representatives, and administrative expenses, including an independent fiduciary's fee capped at $25,000 and a reserve for later costs.By OCA's arithmetic, if the court awarded the full fee and the maximum service awards, about $6.14 million would remain before litigation costs and administrative expenses are deducted. That figure is an estimate, not an amount stated in the settlement papers.
The remaining net amount is divided in two steps:
- Between the classes: each plan's share equals its balance in the two Allianz funds (AllianzGI Structured Alpha U.S. Equity 250 LLC and AllianzGI Structured Alpha 1000 Plus LLC) on December 31, 2019, as a fraction of both plans' combined balance in those funds.
- Within the IAP Class: each member's share is proportional to that member's IAP account balance on December 31, 2019.
- Within the Retirement Plan Class: each member's share is proportional to that member's accrued Sustainable Income Benefit (SIB) Units on December 31, 2019.
A check or cash payment that would come to less than $5.00 is not issued, and that money stays with the class. Plaintiffs calculated the maximum possible recovery in the case at $108,057,973, so the $9.25 million settlement is about 8.5% of that figure.
What Proof Is Required?
None. There is no claim form. The settlement administrator calculates each share from records supplied by the plans' recordkeeper and actuary, and its determinations are final under the court-approved plan of allocation. Notices go to the addresses in plan records, and the administrator will try to locate class members who have moved since their last distribution from the plans.How Is the Money Paid?
The form of payment depends on the plan and on whether the member still has a benefit in it:- IAP members with an account balance when payments are calculated (current participants): the share is deposited into the IAP account automatically.
- IAP members with no account balance at that point (former participants): the share is paid by check, or rolled over to an individual retirement account or other eligible employer plan if the member returns a Rollover Form.
- Retirement Plan members whose benefit has not been fully paid out: the share is applied as a credit of additional SIB Units, which increases the member's benefit under the Retirement Plan instead of paying cash.
- Retirement Plan members whose benefit was fully paid out on or before the settlement's effective date: a cash payment by check, or by rollover if the member returns a Rollover Form.
- Retirement Plan members whose benefit is fully paid out after the effective date but before payments begin: a cash payment by check, with no rollover option.
Checks expire 60 days after they are issued. Uncashed amounts return to the settlement fund and are then transferred to the plans for the benefit of participants.
What Are the Key Dates?
There is no claim deadline. The order sets its other deadlines by counting back from the fairness hearing, so each one moves if the hearing is rescheduled:- Notice: the settlement administrator must send notice by U.S. mail or electronic means no later than 30 calendar days after the October 14, 2026 order, which is November 13, 2026. The settlement website must be set up by the same date.
- Objections: written objections, and any notice of intent to speak at the hearing, must be filed or postmarked at least 21 calendar days before the hearing, which is January 27, 2027 on the current schedule.
- Rollover Forms: must be postmarked no later than seven days before the hearing, which is February 10, 2027 on the current schedule.
- Fairness hearing: February 17, 2027, at 9:00 a.m., in Courtroom 14A of the federal courthouse in Seattle. The court may hold it in person, by telephone or by videoconference, and may move it without further direct notice to class members.
The court did not list a timezone for these deadlines.
Is There Anything to File?
Payment does not depend on filing anything. The settlement classes were certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1), so class members cannot opt out and will be bound by the settlement if it is approved.Two steps are optional. Former IAP participants and Retirement Plan members whose benefits were fully paid out by the effective date can use the Rollover Form sent with the notice to choose a rollover instead of a check. A class member who disagrees with the settlement can file a written objection with the Clerk of the Court and send copies to class counsel and defense counsel; the order requires the objection to identify the case name and number, include the objector's name, address, telephone number and signature, and state the grounds for the objection along with any supporting documents.
The settlement website had not launched as of October 15, 2026, and its address had not been made public. Until it does, the court filings are available on the public docket linked under Sources below.
What Happens Next?
Atticus Administration is due to send notices and open the settlement website by November 13, 2026. Class counsel must file the request for attorneys' fees, costs, service awards and administrative expenses at least 30 days before the objection deadline, and an independent fiduciary retained for the plans will review the settlement on their behalf, as ERISA requires.At the February 17, 2027 hearing, the court will decide whether to grant final approval and how much to award in fees, costs and service awards. If it approves the settlement and there are no appeals, the notice says distribution will likely happen within about four months of the final approval order. If the settlement is not approved or is terminated, the case returns to where it stood before the agreement and nothing is paid.
Sources and Verification
• Johnson v. Carpenters of Western Washington Board of Trustees, No. 2:22-cv-01079 (W.D. Wash.), court docket• Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement, ECF No. 188 (October 14, 2026)
• Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement, ECF No. 182 (October 13, 2026), available on the docket above
• Class Action Settlement Agreement and proposed Settlement Notice, Exhibit 1 to the Declaration of Mark E. Thomson, ECF No. 183-1, available on the docket above
Questions
Can members of the Carpenters plans opt out of this settlement?
The court certified both settlement classes under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1), and the settlement notice states that class members cannot exclude themselves. A class member who disagrees with the settlement, the fee request or the service awards may file a written objection with the court at least 21 calendar days before the fairness hearing, which on the current schedule is January 27, 2027.
What were the Allianz Structured Alpha funds?
They were two hedge funds, AllianzGI Structured Alpha U.S. Equity 250 LLC and AllianzGI Structured Alpha 1000 Plus LLC, that generated returns by trading options and futures tied to the VIX volatility index. Plaintiffs allege the plans' fiduciaries put nearly 20% of the plans' assets into them, well outside what plaintiffs call the plans' conservative risk profile, and that the funds' losses in early 2020 cost the plans tens of millions of dollars. The defendants deny the claims.
Did the plans already get money back from Allianz?
According to plaintiffs' preliminary approval motion, the plans had already recovered their losses from the challenged events from Allianz, a point the defendants raised in seeking dismissal. Plaintiffs' counsel told the court this limited the potential recovery in this case, because any judgment would have come on top of the money already recovered. The $9.25 million settlement is separate from that earlier Allianz recovery.
How does a rollover election work for former IAP participants?
Former IAP participants, meaning class members with no IAP account balance when payments are calculated, receive their share by check unless they return the Rollover Form sent with the settlement notice and direct the money to an individual retirement account or another eligible employer plan. The order requires Rollover Forms to be postmarked no later than seven days before the fairness hearing, which on the current schedule is February 10, 2027. Retirement Plan members whose benefits were fully paid out by the settlement's effective date have the same rollover option for their cash payment.
What happens to settlement checks that are never cashed?
Checks issued under the plan of allocation expire 60 calendar days after their issue date. The uncashed money returns to the settlement fund and is then transferred to the IAP or the Retirement Plan, where it is used to defray expenses that would otherwise be charged to participants or is otherwise used for their benefit. None of the settlement money can revert to the defendants.
When could settlement payments be made?
No payment date has been set. The settlement notice says that if the court grants final approval and there are no appeals, distribution will likely happen within about four months of the final approval order. An appeal could delay payments, potentially for years, and nothing is paid if the settlement is terminated or not approved.
