Whole Foods Will Pay $2 Million to Resolve 401(k) Fee Challenge

Whole Foods Market Inc. agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit by workers challenging the fees associated with the grocer’s $1.9 billion retirement plan.

The agreement is slated to benefit nearly 100,000 people and represents 17% of the “maximum best-case damages,” the plaintiffs said in a Tuesday motion asking that the deal be approved. It resolves allegations that Whole Foods violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to rein in the plan’s annual fees for recordkeeping services, which were allegedly about $31 per person.

• The case is assigned to Judge Robert Pitman of the US District ...