Farr

Plaintiffs were long term employees of defendants US West, Inc. and US West Communications. In Jan. 1990, plaintiffs chose to retire under an amendment to the US West Management Pension Plan known as the “5 + 5 program” which created early retirement incentives for many long term employees. Under the 5 + 5 program, plaintiffs chose to receive their accrued pension benefits in a lump sum. Plaintiffs allege that US West did not tell them that those lump sum distributions in excess of the amount qualified to be rolled over into Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) would be taxed.

On Dee. 15, 1989, J. Thomas Bouchard, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at US West, sent a letter to employees eligible to retire under the 5 + 5 program. Attached to the letter was a 15-page booklet providing an overview of the program. The booklet included a section entitled “Tax Considerations Affecting Choice of Distribution” which purported to “highlight[ ] the basic federal tax rules” relevant to the choice between taking the pension benefits in a lump sum or in a series of *1363 monthly installments. The booklet warned plan participants that the tax consequences of the…