Rink V CREF settlement

The only one I can think of is for the multitude of similarly affected payees to join forces in getting some competent advice on the taxability of the payments. Even if, as the settlement agreement says, not all payees are identically affected, there would be general rules that apply here.

There may also be some restrictions on what to do with the check, and how fast, in order to preserve tax exemption (if preservable at all), so we shouldn't wait long to figure this out.

action suit: Rink V CREF. I can find nothing in the literature or on the web site

IRA's. I transferred most, but not all, of those IRA's funds to Vanguard (trustee transfer) several years ago because of the CREF delays that prompted this class action suit. Parts of those IRA funds have now been converted to Roth IRA's (if that matters).

(and how would I do that, so both Vanguard and Uncle Sam would accept it) so that it is not taxable?

The distribution represents lost revenue and interest. It all belongs to your traditional IRA. If you cash the check, the amount is treated as a taxable IRA distribution. You can avoid this by depositing the check into your IRA. You just need to tell the trustee that the deposit is a settlement recovery and not an annual contribution. Charles Schwab (I know this from experience) treats the deposit as a tax-free rollover.