Class action against Burns & McDonnell settles

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Corrected: An earlier version of this post misstated the total size of the settlement.

A proposed class action lawsuit against Kansas City-based firm Burns & McDonnell has settled for about $1.2 million.

In court papers filed Friday in federal court in Kansas City, attorneys for the class told U.S. District Judge Greg Kays that the parties had agreed “on all material terms” but that final details of the settlement were being worked out. The proposed agreement was to be submitted sometime this week, and final approval would be sought this summer.

The lawsuit, filed in 2009, alleged that Burns & McDonnell breached the terms of its

employee stock ownership plan in violation of federal law, and that about 100 former firm employees lost part of their retirement benefits.

Burns & McDonnell, an international engineering, architecture and consulting firm, did not admit fault in the settlement.

Any money not spent from the settlement fund would be donated to an unspecified charity.

The agreement also calls for $155,000 for The Simon Law Firm in St. Louis, which represented the plaintiffs.

The case is Titus v. Burns & McDonnell Inc. et al., 4:09-cv-117.