February 27, 1998

News Release Archive: ILAB Press Release: U.S. and Mexico Labor Secretaries to Consult on Alleged Employment Discrimination in Maquiladora Plants

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

ILAB Press Release: U.S. and Mexico Labor Secretaries to Consult on Alleged Employment Discrimination in Maquiladora Plants [02/27/1998]

February 26, 1998

News Release Archive: ESA Press Release: Youth Opportunities of America, Inc.,Cincinnati, Ohio, Ordered to Pay $8,825 Fine For Child Labor Violations

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment Standards Administration

ESA Press Release: Youth Opportunities of America, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, Ordered to Pay $8,825 Fine For Child Labor Violations [02/26/1998]

February 26, 1998

EBSA Press Release: Labor Secretary Names Chairs for ERISA Advisory Council [02/26/1998]

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

For more information call: (202) 219-8921

Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman today named Marilee Pierotti Lau of San Francisco, Calif. as chair of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, which is more commonly known as the ERISA Advisory Council. Also named as the council's vice chair was Kenneth S. Cohen of Amherst, Mass.

February 25, 1998

Mississippi Plan Trustee Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Plan Funds

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

A trustee of an employee benefit plan in Jackson, Miss., pleaded guilty to one count of embezzling nearly $95,000 of the plan's money and converting it to his own use.

John Francis Schmelzer pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a May 14 indictment that he embezzled $94,833.00 from the Professional Staffing Service CA Money Purchase Plan, an employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

February 20, 1998

EBSA Press Release: Labor Department Announces Initiatives to Implement President Clinton's Consumer Bill of Rights Directive [02/20/1998]

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

For more information call: (202) 219-8921

U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman today announced three initiatives to implement President Clinton's Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities directive to improve the quality and fairness of health care for millions of Americans.

February 19, 1998

Court Orders Restitution Of More Than $227,000 To Compton Pension Plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

A Los Angeles federal court entered a default judgment requiring Mid-Cities Association for Retarded Children of Compton, Calif. and the trustees of its defined benefit plan to pay $227,515 and any future losses as restitution to the plan.

February 17, 1998

Washington, D.C. Native Named Regional Director For Pension And Welfare Benefits Administration In Philadelphia

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Mabel Lum Capolongo, a native of Washington, D.C., has been named regional director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration Office (PWBA) in Philadelphia.

The mission of the PWBA is to protect the integrity of pensions, health plans, and other employee benefits for more than 200 million people

February 11, 1998

News Release Archive: ILAB Press Release: Labor Department to Hold PublicHearing In Continued Probe of International Child Labor

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

ILAB Press Release: Labor Department to Hold Public Hearing In Continued Probe of International Child Labor [02/11/1998]

February 11, 1998

Former Georgia Pension Trustee Sentenced For Embezzling Plan Money

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

A former trustee of the Glasstream Boats, Inc. profit sharing plan in Nashville, Ga. was sentenced to six months in prison for embezzlement of more than $149,000 in plan assets for his own use. Adolphus L. Kirkland Jr. has already paid $149,557.11 in restitution to the plan.

The profit sharing plan covered 112 participants and had $298,839 in assets as of April 30, 1992. Kirkland was the sole trustee of the plan.

February 9, 1998

EBSA Press Release: Labor Department Warns Employee Benefit Plan Administrators about Year 2000 Software Problem and Calls for Immediate Action [02/09/1998]

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

For more information call: (202) 219-8921

Today, Assistant Secretary of Pensions and Welfare Benefits Administration Olena Berg reminded employee benefit plan administrators and service providers of the need for action to address the looming Year 2000 software problem in order to protect workers' benefits as the century turns.

February 9, 1998

EBSA Press Release: Labor Secretary Names ERISA Advisory Council Members [02/09/1998]

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

For more information call: (202) 219-8921

Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman today appointed seven new members to the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans to represent various sectors of the employee benefit industry.

February 4, 1998

Labor Department Sues Ohio Corporation And Plan Trustees For Illegally Withholding Employee Contributions

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against a Columbus, Oh., corporation and its plan trustees for failing to promptly remit the money withheld from employees' paychecks into the 401(k) plan's investment accounts.

February 4, 1998

EBSA Press Release: Labor Department Announces Delay of New Form 5500 to 1999 Plan Year to Provide Filers with More Filing Time [02/04/1998]

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

For more information call: (202) 219-8921

The Department of Labor announced today that, in response to public comments, the implementation of the streamlined Form 5500 Annual Return/Report is being delayed until the 1999 plan year to give plans and their service providers more time to prepare for the new form.

January 30, 1998

News Release Archive: ILAB Press Release: Labor Department to Review New Freedom of Association Complaint Against Mexico

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

ILAB Press Release: Labor Department to Review New Freedom of Association Complaint Against Mexico [01/30/1998]

January 30, 1998

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Of Massachusetts To Refund $10 Million To Health Participants And Employers

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

A U.S. federal judge today ordered Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts to repay $10 million to participants in and sponsors of private-sector health plans covered under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act(ERISA).

January 30, 1998

Andover, Connecticut, Construction Firm & Officers Sued By U.S. Labor Department To Recover Employee Pension Plan Assets

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Tiger Lee Construction Company of Andover, Connecticut, as well as Eugene Sammartino and Christine Sammartino, as owners of the company, have been sued by the U.S. Department of Labor to recover misused assets of the company's two employee pension plans.

January 30, 1998

Long Island Health Plan Administrator Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement And Mail Fraud

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The president and owner of Employee Health Plan Administrators, Inc. of Westbury, N.Y. pleaded guilty to one count each of embezzlement and mail fraud in connection with employer contributions he failed to remit to the health and welfare plans of local 119 of the Brotherhood of Industrial Workers in New York City.

January 29, 1998

Inglewood 401(K) Plan Trustee Charged With Misusing Pension Money

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U. S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit yesterday against the owner of Computer Software Analysts, Inc., based in Inglewood, Calif., for failing to transmit employer and employee contributions to the company’s 401(k) plan.

January 26, 1998

Ohio Plan Sponsor And Trustees Ordered To Pay More Than $41,000 Of Additional Benefits To Participants For Under Calculating Benefits

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The sponsor and trustees of the Dick DeRoberts & Co. Pension Plan in Columbus, Oh., were ordered to pay $41,577.31 in additional benefits to participants for improperly amending plan documents in a manner that adversely affected the participants in violation of federal pension law, according to a consent order and judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.

January 20, 1998

News Release Archive: ESA Press Release: President Clinton Requests Additional Funds for Labor Department Civil Rights Enforcement

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment Standards Administration

ESA Press Release: President Clinton Requests Additional Funds for Labor Department Civil Rights Enforcement [01/20/1998]

For more information call: 202-219-8211

President Clinton has announced he is requesting an additional $6 million for the Department Of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), as part of an Administration-wide civil rights initiative.