AARP Foundation, Co-Counsel Secure Settlement with Symetra Life Insurance Co. to Restore Additional $44.4 Million in Retirement Funds for Thousands of Church Employees and Retirees.

WASHINGTON— AARP Foundation and its co-counsel have secured final court approval of a $44.4 million class action settlement with Symetra Life Insurance Company that will help restore retirement savings for nearly 5,000 current and former African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church clergy and lay employees.

The settlement marks a major milestone in litigation seeking to recover approximately $90 million in retirement funds that plaintiffs allege were mismanaged by the AME Church for more than two decades. Together with earlier settlements with Newport Group, Inc. and the AME Church, settlements in the case now total $106.4 million. AARP Foundation, Lee Segui, Lieff Cabraser, Kantor & Kantor, LLP, Osborne & Francis, and other firms continue to represent the plaintiffs in pursuing claims against the remaining defendants.

“Retirement security is not a promise that can be broken. It is compensation earned over a lifetime of work, and it should be there when people need it most,” said Louis Lopez, Senior Vice President of Litigation at AARP Foundation. “This settlement will restore millions of dollars to nearly 5,000 workers and retirees, including AME Church pastors and other clergy, who lost at least 70% of their retirement savings. After decades of serving their communities, they deserve to retire with security and dignity, not face the devastating loss of the money they earned for their future.”

The African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest and one of the largest U.S. Protestant denominations and historically Black churches, boasting 2.5 million members and 7,000 congregations worldwide. Under the settlement, funds will be distributed to participants’ retirement plan accounts based on the retirement benefits owed to each person. The AME Church also agreed to reforms of its retirement services operations intended to prevent future mismanagement.

In April 2022, AARP Foundation joined the class action lawsuit as co-counsel on behalf of approximately 5,000 AME Church employees and retirees seeking to recover lost retirement benefits. The Church had promised to contribute 12% of each participating clergy and staff member’s annual salary to the retirement plan, but the lawsuit alleged that approximately $90 million was improperly diverted through risky investments, commissions, fees, and other transactions. As a result, many participants lost at least 70% of their retirement savings.