KLAMATH FALLS — Three retired Jeld-Wen employees filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Klamath Falls-based door-and-window maker unlawfully cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement payouts.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Medford on behalf of Robert Jimerson, Phillip Bellotti and Bradley Snodgrass, the Klamath Falls Herald and News reported. It alleges the company violated federal law by amending the benefit payout structure of its Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
The men claim they suffered a collective loss of value approaching $650,000. The lawsuit was also filed on behalf of potentially hundreds of other employees who could be affected by the change.
Jeld-Wen representatives did not return phone and email messages seeking comment.
All three plaintiffs ended their employment between 2005 and 2008, retiring under a plan that, if the plan participant was not yet 55 and eligible for early retirement, guaranteed payouts based on the valuation of Jeld-Wen’s privately owned stock at the time their employment ended.
The company’s stock was strong until the housing bubble burst and sent shares tumbling more than 70 percent from 2007 to 2011.
