Envision Radiology ESOP Settlement, Who Qualifies After the $163.7 Million Stock Sale Lawsuit?

Envision Management Holding, Inc., the Colorado Springs imaging company known as Envision Radiology, has settled a certified ERISA class action over its 2017 sale to its own employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The case is Harrison v. Envision Management Holding, Inc. Board of Directors, et al., No. 1:21-cv-00304-CNS-MDB, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, before Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney.

The deal came days before a trial set to begin October 26, 2026. Plaintiffs’ counsel reported that the parties signed a term sheet on October 23, 2026, and that the full settlement agreement and approval papers were to be submitted to the court by December 4, 2026.

One point matters more than any other for readers: the $163.7 million is the price the ESOP paid for the company’s stock in 2017. It is not the settlement amount. The settlement amount, how it will be divided, and any claim steps have not been made public yet.

This is a case about retirement plan participants. Envision patients and members of the public do not qualify because they used an Envision imaging center.

Envision Radiology ESOP Settlement Eligibility Checklist: Are You in the Certified Class?

The court certified the class on January 24, 2025. You are likely a class member if all of these apply:

• [ ] You participated in the Envision Management Holding, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan on or after September 1, 2017.
• [ ] You vested under the terms of the ESOP. Working at Envision is not enough on its own. The class definition requires vesting under the plan.
• [ ] You are not excluded. The class excludes the defendants, Envision directors, recipients of warrants or stock appreciation rights in Envision stock, and certain family members of excluded people.

Beneficiaries: The class also covers the beneficiaries of qualifying participants, for example the family of a participant who has died. If that could be you, keep documents showing your relationship to the participant and the plan account.

Former employees: Leaving Envision does not remove you from the class. The named plaintiffs, Robert Harrison and Grace Heath, are former employees. The court put the class at about 1,000 people.

Envision Management Holding ESOP Settlement Quick Facts

Item	Details
Case	Harrison v. Envision Management Holding, Inc. Board of Directors, et al., No. 1:21-cv-00304-CNS-MDB (D. Colo.)
Judge	Charlotte N. Sweeney
Law	Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.
Class	Certified January 24, 2025: participants in the Envision ESOP on or after September 1, 2017 who vested under its terms, and their beneficiaries (about 1,000 people)
Settlement reported	October 23, 2026 (signed term sheet, per plaintiffs’ counsel)
Trial that was avoided	Scheduled to begin October 26, 2026
Court filing date reported	December 4, 2026: parties to submit settlement details for approval
$163.7 million	The 2017 ESOP stock purchase price, not the settlement
Settlement amount	Not yet public
Claim form and deadline	None announced
Class counsel	Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
Official sources	No settlement administrator website exists yet. Use the court docket (No. 1:21-cv-00304, available through PACER) and class counsel’s Envision Management Holding, Inc. ESOP Litigation case page

What Did the Envision Management Holding ESOP Lawsuit Allege About the 2017 Stock Sale?

In December 2017, Envision’s founders and owners, Darrel Creps III, Paul Sherwood, and Jeff Jones, sold 100% of the company’s stock to a newly created ESOP for $163.7 million. According to the complaint, the ESOP could not pay that sum on its own and relied on borrowed money, including a $50,822,524 loan from Envision itself.

Robert Harrison filed the case on January 29, 2021, and Grace Heath later joined as a named plaintiff. They alleged that:

• The ESOP paid more than the stock was worth.
• Department of Labor filings showed the ESOP paid two different prices for the same stock, including $1,404 per share for 36,194.52 shares.
• Participants had no say in the price, and the sellers kept control of the company after the sale.
• The sellers, the ESOP committee, the board, and the plan’s trustee, Argent Trust Company, breached their duties to the plan.

The complaint asked for plan-wide relief, meaning money restored to the ESOP rather than damages only for Mr. Harrison.

What the Envision Defendants Said

The defendants denied the allegations. They argued that Argent Trust relied on outside advisers, negotiated the terms, and considered the company’s fair market value, and that the ESOP gave employees a valuable retirement benefit.

Neither the class certification nor the denial of partial summary judgment decided who was right. Those rulings only let the case move toward trial, and a settlement does not mean a court found wrongdoing.

Who Are the Defendants in the Envision ESOP Case?

The defendants include the Envision Management Holding, Inc. Board of Directors, the Envision Management Holding, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan Committee, Argent Trust Company (the ESOP trustee), and individuals including Darrel Creps III, Paul Sherwood, Jeff Jones, Aaron Ramsay, and Tanweer Kahn.

Related article: Brandt Equities Data Breach Settlement, Who Qualifies for Up to $3,580?

Which Laws Apply to the Envision ESOP Settlement? ERISA Sections 404, 405, 406, 409, and 502

• ERISA § 404(a), 29 U.S.C. § 1104: Plan fiduciaries must act in the interest of participants and beneficiaries and with the required prudence. The plaintiffs said the stock purchase breached these duties.
• ERISA § 406, 29 U.S.C. § 1106: Restricts certain transactions between a plan and parties in interest, including fiduciary self-dealing. The plaintiffs alleged prohibited transactions.
• ERISA § 405, 29 U.S.C. § 1105: Can make one fiduciary responsible for another fiduciary’s breach.
• ERISA §§ 409 and 502(a)(2), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1109 and 1132(a)(2): Allow claims on behalf of a plan to recover losses caused by a fiduciary breach. This is why the relief is plan-wide.

What Happens Next in the Envision Radiology ESOP Settlement?

The settlement papers. Plaintiffs’ counsel reported December 4, 2026 as the date for the parties to submit settlement details. That is a court-filing date, not a deadline for class members.

Court approval. A federal judge must approve a class settlement. Once the agreement is filed, it should spell out the amount, how money will be allocated, and whether it goes to individual ESOP accounts or to the plan as a whole.

Opt-out rights may differ from consumer settlements. According to the class-certification order as described in plaintiffs’ counsel’s materials, the class was certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1). A class certified that way generally does not carry the opt-out right found in typical consumer class actions. The settlement documents and the court’s orders will decide what notice, objection, and hearing procedures apply.

What Should Envision ESOP Participants Do Now?

1. Pull your ESOP records. Annual statements, valuations, and vesting information show whether you fit the class definition.
2. Keep employment and beneficiary documents. Save anything showing when you worked at Envision and, if you are a beneficiary, your link to the participant.
3. Watch the docket and class counsel’s case page. The settlement papers and any court-ordered notice will appear there.
4. Ask class counsel questions directly. Cohen Milstein represents the class. Its case page is for updates and contacts, not for filing claims.
5. Ignore anyone charging a fee to “file your claim.” No claims process exists yet.

For comparison with other retirement-plan cases that have already reached the payment stage, see Frontier Communications $14.05 Million 401(k) Settlement, Who Qualifies and the December 8 Rollover Deadline. Another ESOP case is covered in BNBuilders $5,000,000 ESOP Settlement, Check If You Qualify — Schlueter v. BNBuilders, No. 2:25-cv-01713-JHC.

Envision Management Holding ESOP Litigation Timeline

Date	Event
December 2017	ESOP buys 100% of Envision stock for $163.7 million
January 29, 2021	Robert Harrison files the lawsuit
March 24, 2022	District court denies motion to compel arbitration
February 9, 2023	Tenth Circuit affirms (No. 22-1098)
October 10, 2023	U.S. Supreme Court declines to review the arbitration ruling
March 21, 2024	District court denies motions to dismiss
January 24, 2025	Class certified
August 20, 2026	Court denies defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment
October 23, 2026	Plaintiffs’ counsel reports a signed settlement term sheet
October 26–28, 2026	Trial dates crossed out on the court’s revised calendar
December 4, 2026	Reported date for the parties to submit settlement details to the court

Envision Radiology ESOP Settlement FAQs

Is the Envision Radiology Settlement $163.7 Million?

No. The $163.7 million is what the ESOP paid for the company’s stock in 2017. The settlement amount has not been made public.

How Much Will Each Envision ESOP Participant Receive?

That is not known yet. The allocation method will appear in the settlement agreement and the court’s approval orders.

Is There an Envision ESOP Settlement Claim Form or Deadline?

No. No claim form, administrator, or class-member deadline has been announced. Do not confuse the December 4, 2026 court-filing date with a claims deadline.

Does Every Former Envision Employee Qualify?

No. The class covers ESOP participants who vested under the plan’s terms on or after September 1, 2017, and their beneficiaries, minus the excluded groups.

Can Envision Patients Join the Settlement?

No. The case concerns the employee stock ownership plan, not medical services or patient data.

Has the Court Approved the Envision Settlement?

Not yet. The parties reported a signed term sheet. The full agreement still has to be filed and approved.

Did the Court Find That Envision Overpaid for the Company?

No. The court certified a class and let the claims go forward, but it made no final finding that the allegations were true.

Is This Related to the Envision Healthcare Securities Class Action?

No. Envision Management Holding, Inc. is a Colorado Springs imaging company. Envision Healthcare Corporation is a separate Nashville-based company with its own, unrelated securities litigation.

Bottom Line for Envision Radiology ESOP Participants

If you were vested in the Envision ESOP on or after September 1, 2017, or are the beneficiary of someone who was, you are likely in the certified class. Nothing needs to be filed today. Collect your records, follow the docket, and watch for the settlement papers expected in early December 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. AllAboutLawyer.com is a consumer legal information site, not a law firm. Eligibility and any payment depend on the court-certified class definition and the final settlement terms. Consult a licensed attorney or class counsel about your situation.

Sources

1. Cohen Milstein: Envision Management Stock Plan Lawsuit Settles on Eve of Trial (plaintiffs’ counsel’s update on the term sheet and December 4 date)
2. U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado: Judge Sweeney’s revised October 26, 2026 calendar
3. Order Granting Class Certification, January 24, 2025, No. 1:21-cv-00304-CNS-MDB
4. Complaint, January 29, 2021
5. Harrison v. Envision Management Holding, Inc. Board of Directors, No. 22-1098 (10th Cir. Feb. 9, 2023)
6. Cohen Milstein: Envision Management Holding, Inc. ESOP Litigation case page

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against the court filings and orders in No. 1:21-cv-00304-CNS-MDB, the Tenth Circuit opinion, and class counsel’s published case materials, as of October 29, 2026. Last Updated: October 29, 2026.