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Overview

If you are a present or former employee who was a participant in the Duke Energy Cash Balance Plan, this class action lawsuit may affect your rights.

Important Update: Class action certification was granted by the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina on September 4, 2009; order was amended September 28, 2009.

This lawsuit, George et al. v. Duke Energy Retirement Cash Balance Plan, Case No. 8:06-CV-373-RBH, filed in United State District Court for the District of South Carolina, is about Duke Energy Corporation’s ("Duke Energy") Retirement Cash Balance Plan (the "Plan"), and its administration and calculation of retirement benefits under that Plan. Plaintiffs claim that Duke acted in violation of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) in how it has administered and calculated benefits under the Plan and that it violated fiduciary duties owed to the participants.

Duke Energy denies that it did anything wrong. At this time, the Court has not decided whether the Plaintiffs or Duke Energy are correct. The Plaintiffs will be required to prove their claims at a trial.

This class action actually involves two sub-classes, a "Whipsaw Class" and an "Interest Rate Class." These sub-classes are defined as:

Whipsaw Class:
All former employees of Duke who were participants in Duke’s Cash Balance Plan, between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2002, who retired and took lump sum benefits on or before August 17, 2006, prior to age 65, and whose lump sum benefits were calculated during a calendar quarter when the Plaintiffs claim that the applicable interest crediting rate under the relevant Plan documents exceeded the applicable interest rate for discounting to present value under the Plan documents.

Interest Rate Class:
All present and/or former vested employees of Duke who were participants in Duke’s Cash Balance Plan at any time between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 1998, excluding participants who had retired on or before December 31, 1996.

Participating in the Class Action Lawsuit - Your Options

  • Participate: you do not need to take any action in order to participate in this class action. For more details, please consult the Notice or contact Class Counsel, Wallace & Graham, P.A..
  • Opt out: the deadline to submit an Exclusion Form is March 17, 2010.
Please note the following important dates:
Date Event
March 17, 2010
[Coming Up Soon!]		 Request for Exclusion Deadline (postmark deadline)