Under the proposed Settlement, class members who previously signed an agreement releasing their claims against Microchip in exchange for severance benefits equal to half the amounts provided by the Atmel Plan will receive 80% of the unpaid portion plus compound annual interest at 3.96% from their date of termination through the Settlement’s Effective Date, while class members who did not sign a release will receive 100% of the unpaid portion plus compound annual interest at the same 3.96% rate from their date of termination through the Settlement’s Effective Date.

The Effective Date for the Settlement will depend on when the Court grants final approval and whether any class members object to the settlement terms and/or appeal the denial of any objections.

Your settlement share will be paid out in two checks. The unpaid severance portion will be treated as wage income and will have payroll taxes withheld by Microchip and remitted to the federal government. The interest portion will be treated as non-wage income and will not have any taxes withheld.

In order to receive your settlement payment, you do not need to file a formal claim. If the Court grants final approval to the Settlement, you only need to submit a completed Form W-4 and a Form W-9 to Microchip (see Required Forms) to receive your settlement payment.

The deadline for submitting the required forms and receiving a payout is 45 days after the Effective Date, although you are encouraged to submit your required forms promptly to facilitate prompt payment of your share. A separate notice will be sent to class members after the final approval hearing to inform you whether the Court has granted final approval and the deadline for submitting the required forms to participate in the settlement, and a notice will also be posted on this website of the Court’s ruling and any other developments. Payments will be made within 30 days after the later of the Effective Date or receipt by Microchip of your timely Forms W-4 and W-9. All payment checks issued pursuant to the Settlement shall be void 180 days after issuance. All amounts not claimed nine months after the Effective Date (e.g., if a class member does not cash or deposit one or both of their Settlement checks) will be sent to the California State Controller Unclaimed Property Division.

The Effective Date for the Settlement will depend on when the Court grants final approval and whether any class members object to the settlement terms and/or appeal the denial of any objections.

Three law firms have served as co-counsel for the class since this case was filed nearly a decade ago: McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky; Altshuler Berzon LLP; and the Law Office of William Reilly. To date, Class Counsel have not received any compensation for their work or any reimbursement for the expenses they incurred. The proposed Settlement provides that Microchip will pay the total sum of $3.5 million for Class Counsels’ fees and expenses, subject to the approval of the Court, an amount that will be entirely separate and apart from the amounts paid to members of the settlement class. Class Counsel are not seeking to be paid a portion of the settlement payments to class members. Rather, they are seeking only to be paid this additional amount under the fee-shifting provisions of ERISA, the statute under which this class action was brought. Class Counsel have informed the Court that their $3.5 million request is less than the amount that would result by multiplying the number of hours they spent on this litigation in the past decade times the attorneys’ hourly market rates, and adding their litigation expenses. Plaintiffs filed a motion for attorneys’ fees and expenses with the Court on August 14, 2026 (see Case Documents). The Court will determine the final amount that Microchip will pay for attorneys’ fees and expenses at the final approval hearing.

In addition to the payments to class members and Class Counsel described above, the proposed Settlement also provides that Microchip will pay an additional $10,000 service award to each of the two named Plaintiffs who brought the class action (Peter Schuman and William Coplin) to compensate them for their substantial efforts on behalf of the class during the 10 years this case has been litigated. Plaintiffs will file a motion for service awards with the Court by August 17, 2026. Again, the Court will determine the final amounts that Microchip will pay for the service awards at the final approval hearing. Upon the Effective Date, all Settlement class members (i.e., all those who do not opt out of the settlement by the deadline as set forth below and are thus entitled to settlement payments) shall be deemed to have released all claims against Microchip and the other defendants. This release will encompass “any and all claims for relief, damages, and remedies . . . for any and all claims, causes of action, damages, or remedies by the Class Members that were pleaded or alleged in the Complaint or Amended Complaint in the Action or that could have been pleaded or alleged in the Complaint or Amended Complaint based upon the factual allegations alleged therein, against Defendant and each of them.” The referenced documents can be found in the Case Documents tab.

Option 1: Stay in the Settlement and timely submit completed W-4 and W-9 forms to receive payment. To receive your settlement payment, you need to timely submit your W-4 and W-9 forms to Microchip as set forth above no later than 45 days after the Effective Date. The Effective Date for the Settlement will depend on when the Court grants final approval and whether any class members object to the settlement terms and/or appeal the denial of any objections. A separate notice will be sent to class members after the final approval hearing to inform you whether the Court has granted final approval and the deadline for submitting the required forms to participate in the settlement.

Option 2: Opt out of the Settlement. If you do not want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you may exclude yourself by sending a letter with your name, address, telephone, and signature, stating the case name and number (Schuman v. Microchip Tech. Inc., Case No. 4:16-cv-05544-HSG) and your intent to opt out to Class Counsel (Keith Ehrman, McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky, 220 Jackson St., Suite 350, San Francisco, CA 94111) to be received on or by October 1, 2026. If you opt out, you will not receive payment and cannot object to the Settlement. However, you will not be bound or affected by the Settlement.

Option 3: Object to the Settlement. You may ask the Court to deny approval of the Settlement by filing an objection. You cannot ask the Court to order a different settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the proposed Settlement as a whole. Any objection to the proposed Settlement must be in writing. All written objections and supporting papers must: (1) include the class member’s name, mailing address, and e mail address (if any); (2) clearly identify the case name and number (Schuman v. Microchip Tech. Inc., Case No. 4:16-cv-05544-HSG); (3) state with specificity the grounds for objection; (4) state whether it applies only to the objector, to a specific subset of the Class, or to the entire Class; (5) be submitted to the Court either by filing electronically or in person at any location of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California or by mailing to the Class Action Clerk, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 1301 Clay St., Suite 400 S, Oakland, CA 94612; and (6) be filed on or before October 1, 2026. You may retain an attorney, at your own expense, if you wish to be represented by counsel in submitting an objection.

Option 4: Do nothing. If you do nothing, i.e., if you neither timely opt out or submit your W-4 and W-9 forms, you will not receive your settlement share (which will be paid in your name to the California State Controller Unclaimed Property Division), but you will still be bound by the Settlement and its “release” provisions.

The Court preliminarily approved the proposed Settlement on August 3, 2026 and later authorized this notice. The Court will hold a hearing at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building, Courtroom 2, Floor 4, 1301 Clay St., Suite 400 S, Oakland, CA 94612 on October 15, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. to consider final approval of the Settlement and whether to approve a request by Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and for service awards to the two named plaintiffs. You may appear at the hearing, but you are not required to. The hearing date may change without further notice to the Class. Updated information will be available at this website and at the Court’s PACER site at ecf.cand.uscourts.gov.