If you participated in the Capital One Associate Savings Plan between November 11, 2018, and January 13, 2026, you may be entitled to an automatic payment from the Capital One ERISA settlement, a $9.6 million class action resolution that received preliminary court approval on January 13, 2026. A final approval hearing is scheduled for June 25, 2026, and eligible participants do not need to file a claim to receive money.
The case, Singh, et al. v. Capital One Financial Corporation, et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It alleged that Capital One used more than $42 million in forfeited 401(k) contributions to reduce its own matching costs instead of first paying down administrative fees charged to plan participants, as the plan’s own language required. Capital One denied the allegations and maintained its handling of forfeitures complied with legal guidance and the plan’s terms.1
Who Qualifies
The settlement class covers anyone who was a participant or beneficiary of the Capital One Financial Corporation Associate Savings Plan at any point from November 11, 2018, through January 13, 2026. That includes:
- Current Capital One employees enrolled in the plan
- Former employees who kept a plan balance
- Beneficiaries of deceased participants
- Alternate payees under qualified domestic relations orders
Two groups are excluded from payment. Current participants whose plan account balance is $0 will not receive anything. Former participants whose calculated share works out to $5 or less also receive nothing.
The plan covered 68,271 participants and held more than $10 billion in assets, so the class is large. This is a non-opt-out class action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(1). You cannot exclude yourself; your only route to disagree is a written objection.
How Much You’ll Get and How It’s Calculated
The gross settlement fund is $9.6 million. Before any money reaches participants, the fund is reduced by court-approved attorney fees, litigation expenses, case contribution awards for the nine named plaintiffs, taxes, and administrative costs. What’s left is the “net settlement amount,” and that pool is what gets divided among class members.
Class counsel, Capozzi Adler, P.C., is asking for up to one-third of the gross settlement, or $3.2 million, plus up to $50,000 in expenses. Each named plaintiff has requested a case contribution award of up to $5,000. The court will decide those amounts at the June 25 hearing, but the settlement itself is not conditioned on those specific figures being approved.
Individual payments are calculated using a Plan of Allocation based on quarterly account balances from December 2018 through 2025. The settlement administrator counts how many years during the class period each participant had a positive beginning account balance, then assigns a pro rata share of the net settlement based on that count relative to everyone else in the class. The longer you had a funded account during the window, the larger your share.
All payments are classified as “restorative payments” under IRS Revenue Ruling 2002-45, meaning they are treated as making up for plan losses rather than as new income. You remain responsible for any applicable taxes on your payment.
How You’ll Be Paid
You do not need to file a claim. If the court grants final approval on June 25, 2026, payments will go out automatically once any appeals are resolved. How the money reaches you depends on your current status:
If you are a current participant with an active plan account, your payment will be deposited directly into that account. It will be invested according to your existing elections, or, if you have no active elections, the plan’s default investment option.
If you are a former participant, a check will be mailed to the last address the plan has on file. Checks expire 180 days after issuance, so cashing yours promptly matters.
What You Need to Do Now
For most class members, the answer is nothing. But if you’re a former Capital One employee who has moved since leaving the company, the plan may not have your current address. A check mailed to an old address, uncashed within 180 days, is a payment lost.
Former participants who need to update their address should contact class counsel directly at Capozzi Adler, P.C.
General questions about the settlement can go to the settlement administrator, Analytics Consulting LLC:
- Phone: 888-687-6708
- Email: CapitalOneERISA@noticeadministrator.com
- Mail: Capital One ERISA Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 2009, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2009
Key Deadlines and How to Object
Because this is a non-opt-out class, objecting is the only formal way to push back on the terms. Written objections must be filed with the Clerk of the Court for the Southern District of New York and served on both class counsel and defense counsel by May 26, 2026.
A valid objection includes the case name and number, your full name, address, phone number, signature, and the reasons you object. If you also want to speak at the hearing, you must file a “Notice of Intention to Appear” by the same May 26 deadline.
The final approval hearing is set for June 25, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. at the Southern District of New York. Payments will be distributed after the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved.
What the Case Was About
The dispute centered on forfeitures. When Capital One employees left before completing two years of continuous service, the unvested portion of their employer matching contributions was forfeited back to the plan. Employees’ own contributions vest immediately; the employer match is what’s at stake.
The plaintiffs alleged that Capital One’s plan documents required forfeited funds to be used first to pay the plan’s administrative costs, with any leftover amount then applied to reduce the company’s future matching contributions. The complaint said Capital One skipped the first step between 2018 and 2023, routing more than $42 million in forfeitures straight to offsetting its own contribution obligations and leaving participants to shoulder administrative fees that could have been covered instead.
The lawsuit brought claims for breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act against Capital One, its board of directors, and its investment committee. Capital One denied wrongdoing throughout. The $9.6 million settlement resolves the case without any admission of liability.