This page provides the answers to class members’ most frequently asked questions.
The information provided is in summary form and is not intended as a complete explanation of your rights. For full and complete information, you are directed to review carefully the Notice.
The Complaint alleges that Defendants violated ERISA through a wellness program that discriminated against employees based on an impermissible health factor when they failed to provide a reasonable alternative standard with respect to their tobacco surcharge policy. Defendants deny all the claims asserted in the Complaint and maintain that the wellness program at issue complied with all applicable law.
The Settlement Amount, $4,950,000 in total, fully resolves and satisfies the attorneys’ fees and costs approved by the Court, all amounts to be paid to individuals covered by the Settlement, Court-approved service payment to the Named Plaintiff, interest, and the Settlement Administrator’s fees and costs. The Settlement funds are being divided among the individuals covered by the Settlement according to an allocation formula.
To receive proceeds from the settlement, Class Members do not have to do anything. If the Court grants final approval of the settlement and you do not submit an written request to opt out of the settlement, you will be bound by the release of certain federal, state, and local law claims in the laswsuit, and you will receive in the mail a Settlement Check.
If you do not request exclusion from the settlement in accordance to the question below (see How do I get out of the Settlement?), you will be deemed to have waived, released, and forever discharged any and all actual or potential claims, actions, demands, rights, obligations, liabilities, damages, attorneys’ fees, expenses, costs, and causes of action under federal, state, and local laws, including ERISA, that were or could have been asserted based on or relating to the facts alleged in the Complaint, whether known or unknown, and including claims arising out of or related to premiums paid for coverage under the Bass Pro Group LLC Health & Welfare Plan (“Plan”) and allegedly improperly deducted wages as a result of tobacco use by participants and beneficiaries of the Plan, including claims for back wages, liquidated damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, expenses, interest, and penalties (“Released Claims”), against Defendants and their present and former affiliates, divisions, members, joint venture partners, subsidiaries, parents, predecessors, any merged entity or merged entities and/or its or their present and former officers, partners, directors, employees, agents, attorneys, shareholders and/or successors, insurers or reinsurers, and employee benefit plans, including but not limited to the Bass Pro Group LLC Health & Welfare Plan (and the trustees, administrators, fiduciaries, agents, representatives, insurers and reinsurers of such plans), and their assigns, trustees, heirs, administrators, executors, representatives and/or principals, and all persons or entities acting by, through, under or in concert with any of them, and any individual or entity that could be jointly liable with any of them (the “Released Parties”). The full scope of the release is set forth in the Settlement Agreement.
The Released Claims include all potential damages based on said claims, and are intended to include all claims described or identified herein arising between April 26, 2018 up through January 16, 2025. However, the Released Claims do not include any rights or claims (i) that may arise after January 16, 2025; or (ii) which may not be infringed, limited, waived, released or extinguished as a matter of law.
If you do not want to participate in the settlement and want to retain your right to pursue your own independent action, you must send a letter stating your desire to be excluded from the settlement, include the name of the Litigation, your name, your address, and your signature. Requests for exclusion should be sent in an envelope addressed to the Settlement Administrator.
In order to be valid, your written request to opt out of the settlement must be received by the Settlement Administrator and be postmarked no later than March 31, 2025. If you timely submit a written request to opt out of the settlement, you will not be eligible to receive any of the benefits under the Settlement. You will, however, retain whatever legal rights you may have against Defendants with regard to all of the released claims.
If you do not request exclusion from the settlement but believe the proposed Settlement is unfair or inadequate in any respect, you may object to the settlement by filing a written objection with the Court and mailing a copy of your written objection to the Settlement Administrator.
All objections must be signed and include your address, telephone number, and the name of the Litigation. Your objection should clearly explain why you object to the proposed settlement and must state whether you or someone on your behalf intends to appear at the Final Approval Hearing. All objections must be filed with the Court, received by the Settlement Administrator, and postmarked by no later than March 31, 2025. If you submit a timely objection, you may appear, at your own expense, at the Final Approval Hearing.
Any Settlement Class Member who does not object in the manner described above shall be deemed to have waived any objections and shall forever be foreclosed from objecting to the fairness or adequacy of the proposed Settlement, the payment of attorneys’ fees, litigation costs, the Court-approved service payment, the claims process, and any and all other aspects of the Settlement. Likewise, regardless of whether you attempt to file an objection, you will be deemed to have released all of the Released Claims.
The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on the fairness and adequacy of the proposed settlement, the plan of distribution, Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and costs, and the service payment to the Named Plaintiff on May 29, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., in DJ Courtroom 1 of the U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, located at 222 N. John Q. Hammons Parkway, Springfield, Missouri 65806. The Final Approval Hearing may be continued without further notice to Class Members. You are not required to appear at the hearing to participate in or to opt-out of the Settlement.