The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has reached a settlement with two people who sued the organization last year for allegedly failing to control costs for its 401(k) pension program.

NRECA administers a defined contribution plan on behalf of participating electric cooperatives. Two participants—Thaddius Intravaia and Steven Marvik—sued the association for failing to control administrative costs and redirecting money from the program into other parts of the organization.

As evidence, Intravaia's and Marvik's attorneys noted administrative costs for the NRECA plan were more than $400 per participant while similar-sized defined contribution plans generally cost less than $100 per participant. The association said the two were making an apples-to-oranges comparison given its program was a multi-employer plan compared to the single-large-employer plans that it was being contrasted against.

According to court papers filed July 2 in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, NRECA and the plaintiffs announced they had reached a settlement and asked that all further proceedings and deadlines in the case be delayed. They did not disclose any terms of the settlement.

NRECA was represented by Groom Law Group in Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs were represented by law firms Zipin, Amster & Greenberg and Nichols Kaster.

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