One More Time on Expectations

Another large misconception involves the size of the payouts. Many employees have been following the case closely for the past two decades apparently on the expectation of a huge financial windfall. However, the amount at stake involves only the difference between the raises that were paid to those employees and the general federal employee increases in those years, interest, and, in some cases, adjustments for retirement benefits that were artificially lowered. Thus, as individuals have been finding out as they reviewed their distribution packages, the typical payout is several thousand dollars-in some cases substantially less although in a few substantially more. While individuals can challenge only certain information and would need documentation to back up their position-which in some cases might not be possible, given the passage of time. By filing a challenge, individuals also would delay their payouts, possibly by a matter of years, and run the risk of getting less than the settlement fund had been willing to pay.