Bank of America has agreed to pay $55 million to former Countrywide Financial Corp. employees who claimed that Countrywide mismanaged their retirement funds.  E. Scott Reckard, Bank of America agrees to pay $55 million to Countrywide ex-employees (August 11, 2009) www.latimes.com.  Bank of America, through a spokesperson, said that the bank wanted to avoid the time and expense of litigation.  It turns out that you can afford to litigate for a long time for a lot less than $55 million, which makes one wonder if Countrywide really blew it.  A fairness hearing is scheduled for August 24, 2009.