Court grants final approval of $44.4 million settlement with Symetra Life Insurance Company in ongoing litigation on behalf of AME Church ministers.
The federal court in the Western District of Tennessee granted final approval of a $44.4 million settlement with Defendant Symetra Life Insurance Company in the AME Church Employee Retirement Fund Litigation on August 19, 2026. The settlement fund, which has been earning interest since it was funded in May 2026, has now grown to over $44.8 million.
Plaintiffs brought this lawsuit in 2022 on behalf of thousands of AME Church ministers who each lost about 70% of the funds that they had been told they had in their retirement accounts, a total loss of over $88 million.
The Symetra settlement follows the Court’s approval in 2025 of two settlements totaling more than $61.4 million. The total recovery for the class so far now exceeds $106 million, with several non-settling defendants still left in the case.
Matt Lee is co-lead counsel for the consolidated Multi-District Litigation, with Jeremy Williams, Mark Sigmon, and Katharine Batchelor completing Lee Segui’s AME litigation team and providing major contributions to the exceptional results so far.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work our team has done in this case, including both the Lee Segui team and our co-counsel. This result, virtually on the courthouse steps, shows once again that when you litigate a complex case hellbent on winning—at trial, on appeal, and whatever comes next—you drive results and force accountability. And we’re not done here. We will continue to scrap and claw for our AME Church ministers until we have turned over every stone and held every responsible defendant accountable for this devastating loss.”
— Matt Lee, Partner and Co-Lead Counsel
Lee Segui will continue to fight for the dedicated ministers of the AME Church like we do in every case—always striving for the best possible recovery.
All in from day one.
