A class action lawsuit has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging American Express violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act when its Retirement Plan was amended to convert to a cash balance formula from a final average pay formula for the calculation of benefits.
The amended retirement plan violated the act's ban on reducing rates of benefit accrual due to the increasing age of a plan participant. The plaintiff also alleges that the amended plan violated the act's ban on forfeiture of accrued benefits, as well as its present value calculation rules.
