Monetary relief. PwC has agreed to pay $11,625,000 to cover the claims of Covered Individuals. Each Covered Individual who timely files a completed, valid Claim Form (called a “Claimant”), as set forth in section 8, below, will get a share of the $11,625,000 amount.
Claimants will receive money from the Settlement fund based on Class Counsel’s evaluation of the strength of their age discrimination claims. Specifically, Claimants who are Class Members but not Collective Members will begin with 1 point (Category 1), those who are Collective Members but are not Class Members will begin with 1.5 points (Category 2), and those who are both Class Members and Collective Members will begin with 2 points (Category 3).
The Settlement Administrator, at Class Counsel’s direction, will apply the following multipliers to each Claimant’s point allocation: (1) anyone who received an in-person interview with PwC, as reflected in PwC’s records, will receive a 10x multiplier, and (2) anyone who is not eligible for that multiplier (in categories 1, 2, and 3) will be eligible for a multiplier of 0x, 1x, 2x, or 3x, based on the information they provide in their Claim Form (i.e., college GPA, college degree information, CPA license, and work experience), to be determined by the Settlement Administrator in its sole discretion, as advised by Class Counsel. Each Claimant will receive a check for their share of the Settlement fund based on how many points they are awarded. A Claimant with 0 points will receive the default award amount of $200.
Policy initiatives at PwC going forward. In addition to the monetary relief, for a two‑year period, PwC has agreed to implement or continue to enhance several policy initiatives, including the following:
· Postings. PwC shall advertise directly to older populations of potential job applicants. As part of this initiative, PwC will consider recommendations from Class Counsel.
· Graduation date. PwC agrees, for Covered Positions, not to ask pre-offer applicants who have graduated for their graduation date, and not to have eligibility limits based on graduation year (except where that graduation date is in the future) or age.
· Non-discrimination policy. PwC shall include age as one aspect of PwC’s non-discrimination policy in official notifications of that policy.
· Alumni applicants. PwC shall permit graduates of a school to apply to Covered Positions at that school. As part of this initiative, PwC will inform the schools at which it actively recruits for Covered Positions that such “Campus-Track” positions are open to alumni.
· Complaint procedure. PwC’s complaint procedure shall cover complaints of age discrimination.
There will be a neutral Implementation Expert (as defined in the Settlement Agreement) selected by the parties who will meet with PwC’s Chief Purpose & Inclusion Office on an annual basis after the approval of the Settlement. The Implementation Expert will advise PwC on some of the changes described above.
Tax treatment of awards. The Settlement Agreement allocates how payments made to you under this Settlement should be treated for tax purposes. Accordingly, payments to Claimants are allocated for tax purposes as follows: thirty-three percent (33%) of all payments to Claimants will be allocated as wages, and normal payroll taxes and withholdings will be deducted from this portion of these monetary payments pursuant to applicable law. This portion of monetary payments will be reported on an IRS Form W-2. The remaining sixty-seven percent (67%) will be allocated as liquidated damages and/or emotional distress, and interest and will be reported on an IRS form 1099. You will be responsible for correctly reporting this for tax purposes and for paying any taxes on the amounts received. You will be responsible for the tax obligations and consequences of all payments received from the Settlement. PwC, Defendant’s Counsel, and Class Counsel are not providing tax advice to you, and they make no representations regarding the tax characterization of any Settlement payments or any tax obligations of, or tax consequences to, any Claimant.
Unclaimed funds. The unclaimed funds in this matter were redistributed on December 19, 2022 to individuals eligible for a redistribution payment. Any unclaimed funds after the redistribution is complete will be given as a cy pres donation to the nonprofit Experience Works, which helps older adults with job training, volunteerism, and employment.