NationsBank/Bank of America Litigation - Cash Balance Pension Plan

If you have been re-directed here it is presumably because you worked for Nations/Bank or Bank of America or you still work for Bank of America and are interested in knowing if indeed your employer or former employer may owe you money.

We are Gottesdiener Law Firm, PLLC, a nationally recognized plaintiffs' class action law firm that currently represents employees in a number of significant ERISA actions, i.e., cases brought under the federal pension laws which protect employees' pension and 401(k) benefits. We have been successful in pension and 401(k) plan lawsuits against such companies as SBC Communications, Inc and First Union Bank (now Wachovia), as well as against unions (such as the United Food and Commercial Workers International). We are currently involved in cases on behalf of employees/former employees of Enron, New York Life Insurance Company and Amtrak. (More information on these cases is available throughout this site).

Now, after considerable investigation and having heard from a number of current and former employees, we think we have good cause to file suit against Bank of America on behalf of the participants and beneficiaries of the NationsBank/Bank of America 401(k) and Cash Balance Pension Plans and seek the input and possible direct involvement of additional qualified potential class representatives and class members.

You may contact Firm principal Eli Gottesdiener via email (eli@gottesdienerlaw.com) or by calling him in New York or Washington, D.C. via the Firm's toll-free number: 877-720-9285.

Some background about the anticipated litigation: In 1998 and again in 2000, NationsBank/Bank of America transferred billions of dollars in employee 401(k) Plan investments into the NationsBank/Bank of America Cash Balance Plan with what we will contend was an improper motive to profit the company at the expense of employees. A Wall Street Journal article from June 2000 has a partial discussion of some of Bank of America's conduct that would be at issue in our suit. See "Firms Expand Uses of Retirement Funds," The Wall Street Journal," June 19, 2000.

In years prior, both NationsBank and Bank of America, before their merger in September 1998, converted their traditional defined benefit pension plans to “cash balance” plans in such as way as to severely cutback on the amount of money the company would owe employees. While there is nothing inherently wrong with companies cutting costs by reducing benefits, companies may not do so in ways that violate federal pension, tax and age discrimination laws. We believe that NationsBank/Bank of America's action ran afoul of these important laws. We wish to speak with interested potential class representatives and class members to investigate further and obtain their assistance.

Please note that the laws or ethics rules of several states may require us to state that this is a commercial advertisement and that we may stand to gain financially from our efforts. That is certainly true. However, we will only be recompensed if our efforts are successful and we will only receive such compensation as is specifically awarded by a federal district court judge after hearing from all affected parties including participants who may object to our compensation or compensation at the rate we seek. Class actions are, by law, transparent -- especially when it comes to the appointment and compensation of plaintiffs' counsel. This is as it should be because at stake are the rights of many thousands of persons who cannot be and will not be present when their rights are being decided, possibly without them knowing about it until after the fact. On the other hand, unless counsel is willing to risk time and effort to investigate, file, fund and prosecute these cases, many meritorious suits would never be filed and many wrongs were never be righted because in many cases the stakes for individual class members are too small for them to bother trying to hire a lawyer on their own. Again, if we, as class action lawyers, do bring suit and are not successful, we bear all the cost of our efforts and will not seek to be reimbursement our expenses or paid for the time we have spent working on the case. If we do obtain a recovery by way of verdict or court-approved settlement, we earn only what a judge says we should.

Please contact us if you would like more information or would like in any way to more directly assist us assist you. In addition to having available for your review our many reported cases, we can refer you to numerous former clients who can attest to our zeal, professionalism, scholarship and ethics.

Current/Former Employees of NationsBank/Bank of America: Are you owed money?