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Legal Matters
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Loss Contingency [Abstract]  
Legal Matters

Note 13 – Legal Matters

In December of 2023, a purported shareholder of the Company commenced a putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (No. 1:23-cv-08944) (Hunter v. Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc., et al). The complaint alleges violations of federal securities laws against the Company and certain of its current and former officers based on alleged material misstatements and omissions in the Company’s SEC filings. The complaint seeks certification of a class action, unspecified damages, and attorneys fees. The putative class has filed an amended complaint, and the Company has filed a letter seeking permission to file a motion to dismiss. The parties are scheduled to engage in non-binding mediation on December 5, 2024. The Company nevertheless continues to believe the claims are without merit and no loss has been accrued for this lawsuit as of September 30, 2024.

On August 12, 2019, a former employee of Virginia Community Bankshares, Inc. ("VCB") and participant in its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (the “VCB ESOP”) filed a class action complaint against VCB, its subsidiary, Virginia Community Bank, and certain individuals associated with the VCB ESOP in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division. The complaint alleged, among other things, that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties to VCB ESOP participants in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended. The Company automatically assumed liability of VCB in connection with this litigation as a result of its 2019 acquisition of VCB.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with the plaintiff to resolve the VCB ESOP litigation (the "Settlement Agreement"). As provided in the Settlement Agreement, the plaintiff agreed to release the Company, the Bank, and related parties from all claims related to acts or omissions associated with the VCB ESOP and the Company agreed to pay $6.0 million for such release. In June of 2024, the court granted final approval of the Settlement Agreement. This resulted in the ongoing lawsuit being dismissed with prejudice, and all similar claims that were or could have been brought relating to the VCB ESOP released and barred. The Company entered into the Settlement Agreement to eliminate the burden and expense of further litigation and to resolve the claims that were or could have been asserted related to the VCB ESOP. The Company accrued $6.0 million in the third quarter of 2023 in anticipation of this settlement. On July 15, 2024, the Company made the final payment related to the VCB ESOP litigation pursuant to the Settlement Agreement.