Frontier Communications $14.05 Million 401(k) Settlement, Who Qualifies and the December 8 Rollover Deadline

Frontier Communications Corp. has agreed to pay $14,050,000 to settle a long-running ERISA class action over how its 401(k) plan handled investments in Verizon stock. The lawsuit alleges that Frontier and its retirement-plan fiduciaries breached their duties by letting employees’ retirement savings stay concentrated in Verizon common stock as Frontier acquired telecommunications businesses and the stock’s value declined. Frontier denies any wrongdoing.

For most people covered, there is no claim form to file. Payments are made automatically from plan records. The one deadline that matters is December 8, 2026, and it applies only to people who want their payment rolled over into another retirement account instead of the default payment.

Current status (as of October 15, 2026): The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted preliminary approval on August 18, 2026. Final approval is pending. The fairness hearing is scheduled for December 10, 2026, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. (Preliminary approval order; official settlement website)

Frontier Communications 401(k) Settlement Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Gross settlement amount	$14,050,000
Case name	Reidt v. Frontier Communications Corp., et al.
Case number	3:18-cv-01538-RNC
Court	U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
Judge	Hon. Robert N. Chatigny
Named plaintiff	Mary Reidt
Defendants	Frontier Communications Corporation and related plan fiduciaries
Law involved	Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)
Class period	December 12, 2012 through April 30, 2018
Estimated class size	About 12,029 people, per published settlement information
Standard claim form	Not required
Optional rollover deadline	December 8, 2026
Preliminary approval	August 18, 2026
Fairness hearing	December 10, 2026, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time
Class counsel	Bailey Glasser LLP
Settlement administrator	Rust Consulting, Inc.
Official website	frontiererisasettlement.com

Who Qualifies for the Frontier 401(k) Settlement?

You are in the settlement class if both of these are true:

1. You participated in, or were a beneficiary of, the Frontier Communications 401(k) Savings Plan at some point from December 12, 2012 through April 30, 2018.
2. Your plan account included investments in Verizon common stock, including through the Verizon Stock Fund.

The class also includes alternate payees under a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) who qualify under the settlement definition. A QDRO is a court order used to assign part of a retirement plan benefit to someone else, such as a former spouse.

You do not have to work for Frontier today. Former employees and past participants can qualify. But being in Frontier’s 401(k) plan during those years is not enough by itself, because the settlement concerns accounts that held Verizon common stock. The court-approved class definition controls.

The court certified the class for settlement purposes under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1). That is not a typical claim-based settlement where everyone must fill out a form to join. (Source: preliminary approval order.)

What Did the Frontier 401(k) Class Action Allege?

Mary Reidt filed the lawsuit on September 11, 2018, on behalf of the Frontier Communications 401(k) Savings Plan and similarly situated participants. The complaint claimed Frontier and the plan’s fiduciaries, including its retirement investment and administration committee, breached their ERISA duties of loyalty, prudence and diversification by keeping legacy Verizon stock (and, in the complaint, AT&T stock) in the plan.

How Did Verizon Stock End Up in Frontier’s 401(k) Plan?

Frontier’s acquisitions brought employees from other telecommunications companies into its retirement plan, and some brought retirement assets invested in their former employers’ stock. A September 20, 2024 court ruling described how assets from former Verizon and AT&T retirement accounts entered the Frontier plan after business transactions, and noted the plan’s Verizon stock holdings rose significantly after Frontier acquired Verizon’s wireline properties in 2016.

According to that ruling, the plan held about $109 million in Verizon common stock in 2015 and about $355 million in 2016. The Verizon Stock Fund had been closed to new investments, leaving certain former Verizon employees holding legacy shares transferred from their earlier retirement accounts. (2024 ruling in Reidt v. Frontier Communications Corp.)

Frontier removed the Verizon stock fund from the plan in April 2018, which is why the class period ends on April 30, 2018.

Related article: GoodRx $32 Million Privacy Class Action Settlement, Who Qualifies and How to File a Claim

Why Did the Plaintiffs Challenge Frontier’s Verizon Stock Fund?

The plaintiffs argue the fiduciaries should have addressed the risk of the plan’s concentration in telecommunications stocks, and that failing to divest legacy Verizon holdings left participants in an investment that lost value when Verizon’s share price fell.

The court’s 2024 ruling let some claims continue and dismissed others. That ruling did not find the defendants liable. The $14.05 million settlement resolves the remaining dispute on negotiated terms and is not a finding that Frontier or its fiduciaries violated ERISA.

Which ERISA Provisions Does the Frontier Lawsuit Rely On?

ERISA is the federal law that governs most private-sector employee retirement plans. The claims in the Frontier case rest on these parts of the statute:

• Duty of loyalty, ERISA § 404(a)(1)(A) (29 U.S.C. § 1104(a)(1)(A)). Fiduciaries must act solely in the interest of plan participants and beneficiaries.
• Duty of prudence, ERISA § 404(a)(1)(B) (29 U.S.C. § 1104(a)(1)(B)). Fiduciaries must act with the care, skill and diligence of a prudent person familiar with such matters. Under Tibble v. Edison International, 575 U.S. 523 (2015), fiduciaries have a continuing duty to monitor plan investments and remove imprudent ones.
• Duty to diversify, ERISA § 404(a)(1)(C) (29 U.S.C. § 1104(a)(1)(C)). Fiduciaries must diversify plan investments to minimize the risk of large losses, unless it is clearly prudent not to, subject to the statute’s specific rules and exceptions.
• Personal liability, ERISA § 409 (29 U.S.C. § 1109). A fiduciary who breaches these duties can be liable to restore losses to the plan.
• Right to sue, ERISA § 502(a)(2) and (a)(3) (29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(2) and (a)(3)). Participants can sue on behalf of the plan for losses caused by fiduciary breach and for other equitable relief. Cases like this one are often brought as class actions under Rule 23(b)(1) because the relief affects the whole plan.
• Time limits, ERISA § 413 (29 U.S.C. § 1113). Fiduciary breach claims generally must be filed within six years of the breach, or three years after the plaintiff had actual knowledge of it.
• QDROs, ERISA § 206(d)(3) (29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(3)). This is the rule that allows alternate payees to receive plan benefits under a qualified domestic relations order.

The settlement does not decide whether Frontier violated any of these provisions.

How Much Is the Frontier 401(k) Settlement and Who Gets What?

The fund is $14,050,000. According to the settlement notice as summarized in public reporting, these items come out first, subject to court approval:

Item	Maximum
Settlement administration costs	$85,000
Attorneys’ fees	$4,683,333.33 (one-third of the fund)
Attorneys’ expenses	$225,000
Service award to the named plaintiff	$25,000

If all of these were approved at the maximum, about $9.03 million would remain for class members. The court makes the final decisions on all of them.

How Is the Frontier Settlement Money Divided?

It is not split evenly. The court’s order says the allocation is based on each class member’s investment in the Verizon Stock Fund over the class period, which the court found a reasonable way to approximate the alleged harm. The administrator averages your balance using:

• your year-end Verizon Stock Fund balance for each year from 2012 through 2017, and
• your balance on March 31, 2018, for 2018, since the fund was removed that April.

A year with no balance counts as $0 in the average. The minimum payment is reported to be $10. If your calculated share falls below that, it is raised to $10 and other shares are adjusted proportionally.

People who held more Verizon stock in the plan, for longer, receive more. Dividing $14.05 million by 12,029 people would not give a reliable estimate, because it ignores deductions and the formula. No per-person amount has been announced.

Do Frontier 401(k) Settlement Members Need to File a Claim?

No standard claim form is required. The administrator uses plan records to identify class members and calculate shares. What you do depends on your situation.

If You Still Have a Frontier 401(k) Account

Current participants with a positive account balance when payments are made are expected to have their share deposited directly into their plan account. You generally do not need to submit anything.

If You No Longer Participate in the Plan

Former participants who do not request a rollover are expected to receive a paper check at the address on file. If you have moved, contact the administrator so your payment goes to the right place.

If You Want a Direct Rollover of Your Frontier Settlement Payment

A direct rollover into a qualified retirement account may be available instead of a check. The deadline is December 8, 2026. This is an optional rollover deadline, not a deadline to file a claim.

1. Find your claimant ID and access code. They are printed on your settlement notice.
2. Use the rollover form. Submit it through the official rollover form portal, or print the PDF form and mail it.
3. Send it by December 8, 2026. Mail paper forms to: Frontier ERISA Settlement Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, Inc. – 9245, P.O. Box 2599, Faribault, MN 55021-9599.
4. Add documents if needed. Surviving spouses, other beneficiaries and QDRO alternate payees may need to show they have authority to claim.

Check the receiving account’s eligibility before submitting. Tax treatment depends on how you take the payment and the type of account, so talk to a qualified tax professional.

What Happens If You Do Nothing in the Frontier Settlement?

Doing nothing does not mean you get no money. The default process applies: current participants get a deposit in their plan account, and former participants get a check. The only thing you lose by missing December 8 is the chance to request a rollover instead.

For another settlement that pays from account records rather than claim forms, see U.S. Bank 401(k) ERISA Settlement 2026 Who Qualifies, How Payments Work, and What to Do Before August.

Can You Opt Out or Object to the Frontier 401(k) Settlement?

Because the court certified the class under Rule 23(b)(1), the usual right to opt out generally does not apply. Do not assume you can opt out the way you could in a typical consumer class action. The preliminary approval order does allow class members to object.

The order requires objections to be filed or postmarked at least 30 calendar days before the fairness hearing. With the hearing on December 10, 2026, that points to November 10, 2026. That date is calculated from the order, so confirm it in the official notice and on the docket. An objection asks the court to consider your concerns and does not guarantee changes to the settlement.

How Federal Court Reviews the Frontier Settlement

A class settlement in federal court needs court approval under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e). The judge must find it fair, reasonable and adequate, and class members can object. The Class Action Fairness Act’s notice provision, 28 U.S.C. § 1715, also generally requires notice to federal and state officials, and final approval generally cannot come until 90 days after that notice is served.

Frontier 401(k) Settlement Timeline

Date	Event
December 12, 2012	Class period begins
April 2018	Frontier removes the Verizon stock fund from the plan
April 30, 2018	Class period ends
September 11, 2018	Mary Reidt files the ERISA class action
September 20, 2024	Court grants in part and denies in part the motion to dismiss
May 2026	Frontier reported to have agreed to settle
July 10, 2026	Plaintiff files motion for preliminary approval
August 18, 2026	Court grants preliminary approval and certifies the settlement class
November 10, 2026	Objection deadline calculated from the order; confirm in the notice
December 8, 2026	Deadline for optional rollover requests
December 10, 2026, 10 a.m. ET	Fairness hearing
Not set	Payment date

When Will Frontier 401(k) Settlement Payments Arrive?

Payments follow final approval and the resolution of any appeals. At the fairness hearing, the judge will decide whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate and will consider requests for attorneys’ fees, costs and administration expenses. No payment date has been announced. December 8 is a rollover deadline, not a payment date, and the schedule can change if the court reschedules, declines to approve the deal or an appeal is filed.

Who Represents the Frontier 401(k) Class?

Class counsel is Bailey Glasser LLP. Class members do not pay counsel directly; any fees come from the settlement fund if the court approves them.

Frontier 401(k) Settlement FAQ

Is the Frontier Communications $14.05 million settlement approved?

It has preliminary approval, granted August 18, 2026, in Reidt v. Frontier Communications Corp., No. 3:18-cv-01538-RNC. Final approval is pending, with a fairness hearing on December 10, 2026.

Who qualifies for the Frontier 401(k) settlement?

Participants, beneficiaries and qualifying QDRO alternate payees of the Frontier Communications 401(k) Savings Plan whose accounts included Verizon common stock between December 12, 2012 and April 30, 2018.

Do I need to file a claim form?

No. A form is needed only if you want a direct rollover instead of the default payment.

What is the Frontier settlement deadline?

December 8, 2026, for rollover requests.

How much will I get from the Frontier 401(k) settlement?

It depends on your average year-end balance in the Verizon Stock Fund during the class period, after approved fees and expenses. The reported minimum is $10. There is no uniform amount.

Why did the lawsuit focus on Verizon stock?

The plaintiffs say Frontier and its fiduciaries allowed the plan to stay too concentrated in Verizon stock, in breach of ERISA’s duties of loyalty, prudence and diversification.

Did Frontier admit wrongdoing?

No. Frontier and the other defendants deny wrongdoing, and the settlement is not a finding of liability.

What if I never received a notice or my address changed?

Contact Rust Consulting to ask about class membership and update your contact details.

I am the spouse or beneficiary of a participant who has died. Can I get paid?

Beneficiaries and alternate payees are covered, but they may need to provide documents showing their authority.

Can I roll my Frontier settlement payment into an IRA?

An eligible direct rollover may be available through the administrator’s process. Submit the request by December 8, 2026, and confirm the receiving account’s eligibility. Ask a tax professional how it affects you.

Who do I contact with questions?

Rust Consulting, Inc., at 1-888-227-0023 or [email protected]. Do not contact the court.

Official Frontier ERISA Settlement Documents and Contact Information

• Official settlement website
• Long-form notice
• Settlement agreement
• Settlement FAQ
• Rollover form portal
• August 18, 2026 preliminary approval order

Settlement administrator: Rust Consulting, Inc., 1-888-227-0023, [email protected]

Mailing address: Frontier ERISA Settlement Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, Inc. – 9245, P.O. Box 2599, Faribault, MN 55021-9599

Sources Used in This Article

• Order granting preliminary approval, August 18, 2026, Reidt v. Frontier Communications Corp., No. 3:18-cv-01538-RNC (D. Conn.)
• Ruling on motion to dismiss, September 20, 2024, same case
• 2018 complaint
• Official settlement website, long-form notice, settlement agreement and FAQ (frontiererisasettlement.com)
• 29 U.S.C. §§ 1056(d)(3), 1104, 1109, 1113 and 1132; Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1) and 23(e); 28 U.S.C. § 1715; Tibble v. Edison International, 575 U.S. 523 (2015)
• Law360 and Bloomberg Law coverage of the settlement (May and August 2026)

Disclaimer: This article is general legal and financial information, not legal, tax or investment advice. I am not a practicing attorney. Terms, tax treatment and court deadlines may change.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against the federal court’s August 18, 2026 preliminary approval order, the September 20, 2024 ruling, and the official settlement website run by the administrator (frontiererisasettlement.com), as of October 15, 2026. Last Updated: October 15, 2026.