WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Recruitment Program has placed more than 300 qualified college students and recent graduates with disabilities in summer positions. The placements were made using a free database of more than 1,900 candidates seeking summer and full-time employment. The database was distributed on a CD-Rom beginning March 16.

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Boston, Massachusetts - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Lauriat’s Incorporated, a former Boston-area bookstore chain, to obtain court appointment of an independent fiduciary to manage the defunct company’s abandoned retirement plan. The suit was filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Boston, Massachusetts - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to obtain court appointment of an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of now-defunct Marcel French Salon. The company did business in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, as Ambiance.

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New York, New York - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to obtain court appointment of an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of J. Michael Bloom & Associates Ltd. of New York City. The suit also asks to distribute $95,422 to eligible participants and to terminate the plan.

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New York, New York - The U.S. Department of Labor sued Project Solutions of Rochester Inc. and its owner for failure to forward $37,932.14 in employee contributions owed to the company’s 401(k) SIMPLE plan.

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San Francisco, California - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a South San Francisco-based engineering consulting firm, GKO & Associates Inc, and its president for misusing employee 401(k) contributions to pay corporate expenses.

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Chicago, Illinois - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement permanently barring the president of Bimet Corporation of Morris, Illinois, from serving as a fiduciary for employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and requiring restoration of $10,950.61 to the company’s 401 (k) and profit sharing plan.

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Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today published tips to assist fiduciaries of employee benefit plans in reviewing conflicts of interest of pension consultants.

WASHINGTON—The deadline for nominations for the 2005 Secretary of Labor's New Freedom Initiative award has been extended to June 6. The award honors non-profits, small businesses, corporations and individuals for advancing the employment and workplace environment of people with disabilities.

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Washington, DC - U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor Ann L. Combs today released the following statement on the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on weaknesses in the pension funding rules:

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Minneapolis, Minnesota - The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a default judgment requiring the chief executive officer of The Lampland Company Inc., Rochester, Minnesota, to restore $3,756 to the company’s SIMPLE IRA plan as restitution for failure to forward to the plan contributions withheld from employees’ paychecks.

Meets Congressional Deadline for Issuing Regulations

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced today that the Department of Labor (DOL) has met the deadline to establish regulations for the newly created Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).

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Detroit, Michigan - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued an executive of The International Group, Sterling Heights, Michigan, for failing to forward employee contributions to the company’s 401(k) plan in a timely manner, to segregate plan contributions from the general operating assets of the now defunct company, and to insure that required distributions were made to plan participants.

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued to remove the Mary Cole Industrial Services, Inc. as fiduciary of the company’s 401(k) plan and seeks the appointment of an independent fiduciary to terminate the plan and distribute its assets. The defunct Wilmington, Delaware company ceased operations in 2001.

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Atlanta, Georgia - The U.S. Labor Department obtained a default judgment ordering the restoration of more than $4,300 to the Matlack Medical Imaging 401(k) plan, Hillsborough, North Carolina.

“This case sends a clear message that the Labor Department will hold accountable those who are entrusted with employee contributions to benefit plans,” said Howard Marsh, Atlanta regional director of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

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WASHINGTON—Ann L. Combs, assistant secretary for employee benefits security administration, today commended the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its report examining conflicts of interest among pension consultants.

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Labor Department has sued the Professional Industrial and Trade Workers Union Health and Welfare Fund and its fiduciaries for misuse and mismanagement of plan assets.

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Portland, Oregon - The U.S. Department of Labor has filed an adversary complaint in federal bankruptcy court in Portland, Oregon, to protect more than $18,600 owed to the 401(k) retirement plan of the defunct local company Redi-Fab Inc.

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Grand Rapids, Michigan - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the former president of now-defunct Rycenga Homes Inc., Spring Lake, Michigan, for misusing more than $1 million of 401(k) assets to pay corporate debts.