A $14.05 million class action settlement over Verizon stock in the Frontier Communications retirement plan is headed to a federal judge in Connecticut for final approval on January 7, 2027. Nobody has to file a claim, because the money is distributed automatically. People who no longer have a plan account have until December 8, 2026 to ask for a rollover instead of a mailed check.
The case is Reidt v. Frontier Communications, filed in federal court in Connecticut. According to a Bloomberg Law report, plaintiff Mary Reidt challenged Verizon Communications stock that was added to Frontier’s retirement plan after a series of corporate transactions, and Frontier agreed to pay more than $14 million to settle. The motion asking the court for preliminary approval was filed on July 10, and the judge had let the lawsuit proceed in 2024.
Who is in the class, and how the money reaches them
The class window runs from December 12, 2012 through April 30, 2018, the stretch when Verizon stock was held in accounts under the Frontier plan. The class covers participants and beneficiaries of the Frontier Communications 401(k) Savings Plan, along with alternate payees under a domestic relations order, whose accounts held Verizon stock at any time in that window, according to the Open Class Actions summary. Bloomberg Law puts the proposed class at about 10,000 people. The defendants and their immediate families are excluded.
The settlement website describes the class members as vested participants. Anyone who held Verizon stock in a Frontier 401(k) account during those years, and has since moved on from the company, is the person most likely to face the check-or-rollover decision.
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Payment is automatic. Current participants with a positive balance receive their share as a deposit into the plan account. Former participants without a plan account get a mailed check, unless they choose a direct rollover.
The choice sits on a Rollover Form, which is optional and only changes how the money is delivered. The settlement website run by the administrator, Rust Consulting, lists December 8, 2026 as the form’s deadline. People who do nothing and are owed a check will receive it by mail.
The December 8 date and the dates around it
December 8 does double duty. It is also the last day to file an objection with the court, which has to be filed with the Clerk of Court or postmarked by then. Anyone who wants to speak at the hearing must give notice of intent to appear by December 24.
The final approval hearing is set for 10:00 a.m. on January 7, 2027 in Hartford, Connecticut, and may be held in person, by phone or by video. It was moved from December 10. Judge Robert N. Chatigny of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut is handling the case, and the settlement is not final until he approves it.
Lawyers for the class, Bailey & Glasser LLP and Izard, Kindall & Raabe, LLP, must file their fee and final approval motions by November 8. Their fees have not been set by the court.
What comes out before anyone is paid
The fund is not the amount that reaches participants. Before distribution, the settlement deducts attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses, a case contribution award of up to $25,000 for the named plaintiff, administration costs, fees and costs of an independent fiduciary, and taxes and tax-related costs.
The remainder is split by a plan of allocation approved by the court. Each share is based on how much a person had invested in the Verizon Stock Fund during the class period, calculated from the plan recordkeeper’s records. No per-person average or individual estimate has been published, so no one can yet say what a typical share is.
Check or rollover: the tax side of the choice
The two payment routes are taxed differently. The settlement website says withholding differs between a rollover and a check, and it points to the full notice for the details. Anyone who needs the specifics should read that notice before December 8.
The IRS describes the general rules for retirement money. Its topic page on rollovers says a direct rollover has the payer send a distribution straight to another plan or IRA, while a payment made to the person carries a 60-day window to roll it over. It adds that the taxable part of an eligible rollover distribution is generally subject to mandatory 20% withholding, and that money not rolled over may face a 10% additional tax for people under 59½.
Whether a particular settlement payment is treated as an eligible rollover distribution is a question for the settlement notice and a tax adviser, not the general IRS page. The IRS also explains how the 60-day rule and direct rollovers work, including that no tax is withheld on a direct transfer.
That makes December 8 more than a delivery preference for former participants. A mailed check is paid to the person, while a rollover keeps the money in a retirement account. The right pick depends on age, tax bracket and what the notice says about withholding.
Weighing a Frontier 401(k) check against a rollover before December 8?
The Frontier money is automatic, so the risk is not a missed claim form. It is a missed December 8 date, a mailed check that goes to an old address, or a payment nobody logged.
The turn from this settlement to the habit behind it is what The Settlement & Refund Recovery System is built for. It covers the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, so the rollover, objection, appearance and hearing dates do not blur together, and a claim log and payment tracker for recording what was sent, when and to whom. The tracker is a five-tab Excel file.
Get the settlement date rule and payment tracker for the Frontier 401(k) payout →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
