NCL Corp. Ltd., the parent of Norwegian Cruise Line, agreed to settle an ERISA complaint with a 401(k) plan participant who accused plan executives of offering expensive, poor-performing investment and requiring excessive fees for record keeping and other administrative expenses.
The notice of a preliminary agreement was filed Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in Grace Angelo vs. NCL Corp. Ltd. et al.
Attorneys for the plaintiff and for the defendants filed the notice, saying they would provide settlement details by May 10. The court must approve a settlement, which was achieved via mediation, the attorneys wrote.
Ms. Angelo sued in September 2022, seeking class-action status for her allegations of ERISA violations.
"Instead of leveraging the plan's tremendous bargaining power to benefit participants and beneficiaries, defendants chose poor-performing investments (and) inappropriate high-cost mutual funds," said the complaint, which also alleged "unreasonable and excessive fees" for record-keeping and administrative services.
The complaint also alleged that plan executives failed to conduct a record-keeping RFP, claiming that other record keepers serving similar size 401(k) plans charged lower fees.
NCLC 401(k) Plan, Miami, had $255 million in assets as of Dec. 31, 2021, according to the latest Form 5500.
