Either you or someone in your family may have been a Plan participant or a beneficiary of a participant during the Class Period. The Court has directed that this Notice be sent to you because, as a potential Settlement Class Member, you have a right to know about the proposed Settlement with Defendants before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement.

On August 14, 2020, the Named Plaintiff, a former participant in the Plan, filed a class action against the Defendants alleging that the Defendants violated ERISA by breaching fiduciary duties owed to the Plan and/or the Plan’s participants under ERISA by causing the Plan to incur higher administrative, investment, and management advisory fees and expenses than reasonable and necessary. A complete description of Plaintiffs’ allegations is in the Amended Complaint, which is available here.

Aurora has agreed to cause to be paid $2,600,000 (Two Million Six Hundred Thousand Dollars) into a Qualified Settlement Fund. Settlement Class Members are eligible to receive a portion of the amount in the Settlement Fund remaining after payment of administrative expenses, any attorneys’ fees and expenses that the Court awards to Plaintiff’s lawyers, and any Incentive Award to the Named Plaintiff. The amount of each Settlement Class Member’s payment will be based on how many quarters during the Class Period the Settlement Class Member participated in the Plan and will be determined according to a Plan of Allocation in the Settlement Agreement, which will be available here prior to the Final Approval Hearing. Payments to Settlement Class Members will be made directly by check with applicable taxes withheld and reported on an IRS Form 1099-R, or Settlement Class Members can instead elect to receive their payment through a rollover to a qualified retirement account. Any amount remaining in the Qualified Settlement Fund after payment to the Settlement Class Members shall be awarded as cy pres to the Pension Rights Center, a non-profit consumer organization committed to protecting and promoting retirement security.

The above description of the operation of the Settlement is only a summary. The governing provisions are set forth in the Settlement Agreement, which may be obtained here.

The Court has certified the Action as a class action preliminarily. You are a Settlement Class Member if, you were a participant in the Plan at any time from August 14, 2014, through the date Final Approval Order becomes final, excluding the Defendants or any participant/beneficiary who is a fiduciary to the Plan.

The Plan of Allocation describes how the payment of Settlement Class Members will be calculated and is available here. In general, the amount of each Settlement Class Member’s payment will be based on the number of calendar quarters during the Class Period prior to December 31, 2019, when the Plan was frozen, that a Settlement Class Member participated in the Plan. The Settlement Administrator shall calculate the Per Quarter Payment by dividing the total remaining balance in the Qualified Settlement Fund (after the payment of all other expenses including administrative expenses, attorneys’ fees and expenses and any Incentive Award to the Named Plaintiff) by the total number of quarters the Settlement Class Members participated in the Plan prior to December 31, 2019, when the Plan was frozen. Each Settlement Class Member’s total calculated payment shall be a maximum of fifty dollars ($50.00). If a Settlement Class Member’s total calculated payment is less than five dollars ($5.00), it will be removed from the calculation and such Settlement Class Member shall not receive a payment.

Settlement Class Members do not have to file a claim to receive a settlement payment. Payments to Class Members will be made directly by check with applicable taxes withheld and reported on an IRS Form 1099-R, or Class Members may instead elect to receive their payment through a rollover to a qualified retirement account. Checks issued will expire and become void 120 days after the date they are issued if they have not been cashed.

Settlement Class Members who would prefer to have their payment rolled over into a qualified retirement plan account or individual retirement account may elect that rollover option by filling out the “Participant Rollover Form” enclosed with the Notice they received in the mail by March 27, 2023. For payments effectuated as a rollover, taxes will not be withheld.

The Settlement Administrator will provide information regarding how to properly complete the Participant Rollover Form, but it will not provide financial, tax, or other advice concerning which form of payment to elect. Because the form of payment may have certain tax consequences for affected Participants, please consult your tax advisor before deciding whether to do nothing (and receive your payment directly to you as a check) or elect a rollover. Class Counsel cannot provide tax advice concerning the settlement.

If your mailing address has changed, please contact the Settlement Administrator to provide your current address and ensure your payment is sent there.

No. The Settlement Class has been certified by the Court for settlement purposes under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1) and/or 23(b)(2) (non-opt-out class). Therefore, as a Class Member, you will be bound by any judgments or orders that are entered in the Action for all claims that were or could have been asserted in the Action or are otherwise released under the Settlement.

Although Class Members cannot opt-out of the Settlement, you may object to the Settlement and ask the Court not to approve the Settlement. For more information on how to object to the Settlement, see the answer to the question “How do I object to the Settlement?” below.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can object to the fairness, reasonableness or adequacy of the Settlement, any term of the Settlement, the requested attorneys’ fees and expenses, or the requested Incentive Award to the Named Plaintiff. If you object, you must give the reasons why you think the Court should not approve the Settlement, the requested attorneys’ fees and costs, or the payments to the Settlement Class Members.

The addresses for filing objections with the Court and service on counsel are listed below. Your written objection must be filed with the Court, and mailed or faxed to the counsel listed below by no later than March 9, 2023:

File with the Clerk of the Court:

Clerk of the Court
United States District Court
Eastern District of Wisconsin
517 E. Wisconsin Ave – Room 362
Milwaukee, WI 53202

And, by the same date, serve copies of all such papers by mail or email to each of the following:

CLASS COUNSEL:

James A. Walcheske
Scott S. Luzi
Paul M. Secunda
WALCHESKE & LUZI, LLC
15850 W. Bluemound Rd., Suite 304
Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005
psecunda@walcheskeluzi.com

DEFENDANTS’ COUNSEL:

Amy L. Blaisdell
Daniel J. Schwartz
Heather M. Mehta
GREENSFELDER, HEMKER & GALE, P.C.
10 South Broadway, Suite 2000
St. Louis, Missouri 63102
apb@greensfelder.com

The objection must be in writing and include the following: (1) clearly identify the case name and number “Woznicki v. Aurora Health Care, Inc., Case No. 20-cv-1246;” (2) your name (3) your current address and telephone number; (4) a statement of your objection, including the factual and legal grounds for the position; (5) the names and a summary of testimony of any witnesses that you might want to call in connection with the objection; (6) copies of all documents that you wish to submit in support of your objection; (7) the name(s), address(es) and phone number(s) of any attorney(s) representing you; (8) the name, court, and docket number of any class action litigation in which you and/or your attorney(s) have previously appeared as an objector or provided legal assistance with respect to an objection; and (9) your signature.

UNLESS OTHERWISE ORDERED BY THE COURT, ANY SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBER WHO DOES NOT OBJECT IN THE MANNER DESCRIBED HEREIN WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE WAIVED ANY OBJECTION AND SHALL BE FOREVER FORECLOSED FROM MAKING ANY OBJECTION TO THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AND THE APPLICATION FOR ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES AND AN INCENTIVE FEE TO THE NAMED PLAINTIFF.

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing on April 6, 2023, 9:30 a.m. CDT, at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202, Courtroom 320.

At the hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. After the Fairness Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. The Court will also rule on the motions for attorneys’ fees and expenses and an Incentive Fee to the Named Plaintiff. We do not know how long these decisions will take.

If you do nothing and you are a Settlement Class Member, you will participate in the Settlement as described if the Settlement is approved.

Full details of the Settlement are set forth in the Settlement Agreement. You may obtain a paper copy of the Settlement Agreement by making a written request to a member of Class Counsel listed here:

James A. Walcheske
Scott S. Luzi
Paul M. Secunda
WALCHESKE & LUZI, LLC
15850 W. Bluemound Rd., Suite 304
Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005
psecunda@walcheskeluzi.com

Copies of the Settlement Agreement, as well as the motion seeking preliminary approval of the Settlement Agreement, and the Preliminary Approval Order, may also be viewed here.