Hewitt and Enron to restore $11.2 million to Enron litigation settlement fund

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington – Hewitt Associates LLC and the Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. have agreed to restore $11.2 million to the court-supervised settlement fund for Enron participants, the U.S. Department of Labor announced today. The settlement resolves a contempt motion filed by the secretary of labor against Hewitt for having misallocated court-supervised settlement funds owed to Enron employees.

“This settlement will ensure that all pension plan participants will receive all the funds to which they are entitled,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

Hewitt, which served as the administrator for the settlement fund, caused it to have insufficient cash to pay Enron workers, retirees and beneficiaries all the amounts due them. The fund holds recoveries obtained by the Labor Department and class action plaintiffs in related lawsuits regarding Enron’s pension plans.

The settlement will restore the funds necessary to permit full payment to the plan participants in accordance with the allocation formula originally approved by the court. Without the settlement, the fund would have had less than it needed to pay all of the participants their promised recoveries. Enron and Hewitt have agreed to provide the funds necessary to make up the shortfall in the amount needed to make whole the underpaid participants.

Chao v. Hewitt Associates
Civil Action Number H-03-CV-2257

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.