Universal Registration Document 2024

Glossary

In August 2024, all States and US Territories have received the settlement payment. This settlement is in no way an admission of wrongdoing or liability. Publicis Health LLC will, if need be, defend itself against any litigation that this agreement does not resolve.

As a reminder, on May 6, 2021, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against Publicis Health, LLC, a subsidiary of Publicis Groupe, in connection with the work that the agency and its predecessor agencies did for Purdue Pharma from 2010 to 2018 related to the marketing of opioids. The Attorney General claimed that Publicis violated the Massachusetts consumer protection statute and created a public nuisance by participating in Purdue Pharma’s efforts to market and sell opioids. This case was settled as part of a global resolution, described above, with all US States and Territories.

In August 2022, Publicis Health, LLC was likewise named as a codefendant in several lawsuits brought against McKinsey, centralized in a multidistrict litigation proceeding in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, four filed by tribes and three filed by local governments concerning work that Publicis Health, LLC and its predecessor agencies performed for Purdue Pharma related to the marketing of opioids. On September 19, 2023, Publicis Health, LLC was named as a codefendant in a similar action brought by St. Clair County in the Circuit Court of the 20th Judicial Circuit in Illinois. The four tribes and three local governments have settled their cases with McKinsey.

On April 16, 2024, Publicis Health LLC was named as a defendant in a putative class action brought by Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund on behalf of itself and purportedly all other third-party payors who allegedly incurred additional costs as a consequence of the opioid epidemic. In November 2024, Publicis Health LLC was named as a defendant in a similar class action brought in front of the federal court in Chicago on behalf of a group of school districts in several states (Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, New Mexico, California, Maine and New York). Publicis Health LLC denies any wrongdoing or liability and has moved to dismiss the litigation.

Note 23 Pension commitments and other employee benefits

Defined benefit pension plans

The Groupe has obligations for a number of defined benefit pension plans, mainly split between:

  • pension funds (63% of the Groupe’s obligations): these are vested rights of employees, with external pre-funding requirements predominantly in the US and the UK;
  • other mandatory and statutory pension schemes, such as retirement indemnities (35% of the Group’s obligations), particularly in France: rights have not vested so payment is uncertain and linked in particular to employees still being with the Company upon retirement;
  • medical coverage plans for retirees (2% of the Groupe’s obligations) consisting of an effective liability vis-à-vis current retirees and a provision for current workers (future retirees), in particular in the US and the UK.

The largest plans are therefore the pension funds in the United Kingdom (27% of the Groupe’s obligations) and in the United States (23% of the Groupe’s obligations):

  • in the United Kingdom, the Groupe’s obligations are managed through six pension funds and two medical coverage plans, administered by independent joint boards made up of independent external directors. These Boards are required by regulation to act in the best interests of plan beneficiaries, notably by ensuring that the pension funds are financially stable, as well as by monitoring their investment policy and management.

All of the six pension funds are closed and frozen. All existing entitlements (based on salary and number of years of service to the Groupe) have been frozen: beneficiaries still working will not earn any further entitlement under these defined benefit plans. Three funds are in a profit position, and the asset ceiling has been removed in order to show the surplus on the balance sheet.

The pension fund obligations in the United Kingdom relate to retirees (87%) and former employees with deferred entitlement who have not yet drawn down their pension entitlements (13%);

  • in the United States, the Groupe’s obligations are basically limited to a closed and frozen pension fund. The obligations relate to former employees with deferred entitlement who have not yet drawn down their pension entitlements (33% of obligations), retirees (46% of obligations) and employees still working (22% of obligations).