BNBuilders ESOP Settlement: Who Receives an Automatic Payment

An ESOP is an employee retirement plan that holds company stock. The notice says class membership is based on being a vested participant during the stated period or being that participant’s beneficiary, subject to the listed exclusions.

• Participants in the BNBuilders Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) who vested under the Plan at some point from December 23, 2021 through December 31, 2025.
• Beneficiaries of those participants.
• The notice excludes defendants and their immediate family members, Plan fiduciaries, certain BNBuilders officers and directors, officers and directors of entities controlled by a defendant, and the legal representatives, successors, and assigns of those excluded people.

The notice does not give individual payment estimates or a fixed dollar amount per person.

• The settlement fund is $5 million.
• Each Class Member’s amount depends on that person’s pro rata share of all vested shares. In plain terms, the payment is calculated as that person’s relative share of the total vested shares.
• The fund is reduced by court-awarded attorneys’ fees, expenses, settlement-administration costs, independent-fiduciary fees, and any service award before the remainder is distributed.

The notice does not say that supporting documents are needed for the automatic check payment. The signed rollover form is required only for someone choosing the rollover option.

• For the regular payment, do nothing. If the settlement receives court approval, Class Members will receive their settlement payment automatically.
• The default payment method is a check mailed to the address the Settlement Administrator has on file.
• To choose a rollover to a qualified retirement account instead, complete, sign, and return the enclosed Rollover Form online or by mail. It must be submitted or postmarked by November 25, 2026.

Leaving a settlement is often called opting out. This notice says that option is not available.

• No. This is a mandatory, non-opt-out settlement.
• If the court approves it, Class Members are bound by the settlement and receive whatever recovery is available under its terms.
• A Class Member may object to the settlement, fees, expenses, or service award, but cannot leave the settlement.

An objection may address the settlement itself or the requested attorneys’ fees, expenses, and service award.

• Submit a written objection to both the court and the Settlement Administrator by November 25, 2026. A mailed submission must be postmarked by that date.
• Include the case name and number, your contact information, the reasons for the objection, whether you or your lawyer will attend the hearing, whether the objection applies more broadly than to you, and copies of documents you believe support the objection.
• Send the submission to the Settlement Administrator by mail at BNBuilders ESOP Settlement c/o Atticus Administration, PO Box 64053, Saint Paul, MN 55164, or by email at [email protected].

The hearing date or time may change, according to the notice.

• The Fairness Hearing is scheduled for December 16, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
• It is before Judge John H. Chun at the U.S. Courthouse, 700 Stewart Street, Suite 14134, Seattle, WA 98101-9906.
• You do not have to attend. To speak, you must file with the court and send a Notice of Intention to Appear to all counsel by November 25, 2026, including the information required for an objection and the issues you want to address.

No payment date is guaranteed in the notice.

• Payment depends first on court approval of the settlement.
• If there is no appeal, the notice says cash payments will be sent shortly after court approval.
• An appeal can delay payments for more than a year. The notice says the settlement website will be updated with approval status and anticipated timing.

The notice places responsibility for updates on the Class Member.

• Tell the Settlement Administrator if your address or other information changes.
• You may update information by email, telephone, or mail.
• This matters because checks will be sent to the address the administrator has on file.

The notice is only a summary. Someone who needs the exact scope of the release would need to consult the Settlement Agreement.

• After final approval, Class Members cannot bring the settlement’s defined “Released Claims” against the defined “Releasees” in another case.
• The notice does not define those legal terms or list the claims being released. It says they are defined in the Settlement Agreement.
• If the settlement is not approved, the case continues as though the settlement had not been reached, and the described payments will not occur.