WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an update on employee benefit plan compliance for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

“Our deepest and most immediate concern is for those who are in harm’s way, and for the first responders who will work tirelessly to help those affected,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. “We also realize that employers and employees impacted by Hurricane Harvey will need assistance in dealing with employee benefits issues arising from disruptions in banking and payroll processing.”

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting nominations to fill five, three-year vacancies on the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council. The deadline to submit nominations is Aug. 31.

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement with the owner of a Manhattan laser surgery center to pay $5 million to its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to resolve violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The agreement was entered in a consent judgment by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor and a third-party administrator that provides employee health benefit plans with access to a network of doctors, hospitals and other medical providers have reached an agreement in which the administrator has committed to improve its communications with health plans and to return certain fees the plans paid for claims administration that the department alleged were not fully disclosed to the plans.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor and a third-party administrator that provides employee health benefit plans with access to a network of doctors, hospitals and other medical providers have reached an agreement in which the administrator has committed to improve its communications with health plans and to return certain fees the plans paid for claims administration that the department alleged were not fully disclosed to the plans.

Type of Action: Consent order and judgement

Names of Defendants: Ditch Witch Equipment of Tennessee Inc.
Aubrey Needham

DAYTON – A multi-agency federal and state investigation has led to the guilty plea and imprisonment of Ohio businessman William M. Apostelos, who orchestrated a Ponzi scheme that included the theft of $1.9 million from an employee benefit plan. The U.S.

FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS – A fraud investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the FBI, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General has led to a 12-year prison sentence for William Jackson Moates Jr., of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has published a Request for Information related to the fiduciary rule. The RFI is an opportunity for the public to provide data and information that may be used to revise the rule and associated exemptions.

Type of Action: Consent order and judgement

Names of Defendants: Andrea Lynn McCarthy
Lisa Hall
Truss Systems LLC
Truss Systems LLC Profit Sharing Plan

CHICAGO – A partnership between the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has recovered almost $1.5 million for participants in two terminated Chicago-based pension plans.

WASHINGTON – Fiduciary rule guidance for financial advisors, retirement plan sponsors, and individual workers and retirees has been published on the U.S. Labor Department’s website. This information comes in advance of the rule’s June 9 applicability date.

Read Frequently Asked Questions.

Date of Action: April 11, 2017

Type of Action: Consent order and judgment

Names of Defendant: Michael E. Weinhagen
Weinhagen Tire Co. Inc.
Weinhagen Tire Co. Inc. 401(k) Plan

Findings: Michael E. Weinhagen is the sole owner and president of St. Paul, Minnesota-based Weinhagen Tire Co. and the fiduciary to the Weinhagen Tire Co. Inc. 401(k) Plan.

NEW YORK – A federal judge, presiding over a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit, has found that First Bankers Trust Services Inc. breached its duties of prudence and loyalty to the participants of an employee stock ownership plan sponsored by a New Jersey paving and building site preparation company when it caused the plan to overpay $9.4 million for shares of the company’s stock.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a 60-day extension of the applicability dates of the fiduciary rule and related exemptions, including the Best Interest Contract Exemption. The announcement follows a Feb. 3, 2017, presidential memorandum which directed the department to examine the fiduciary rule to ensure that it does not adversely affect the ability of Americans to gain access to retirement information and financial advice.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a proposed extension of the applicability dates of the fiduciary rule and related exemptions, including the Best Interest Contract Exemption, from April 10 to June 9, 2017.

Date of Action: Jan. 17, 2017

Type of Action: Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit

Names of Defendants: Sandor Szajkovics
Passages Hospice LLC
Passages Hospice LLC Dental Plan, Passages Hospice LLC Employee Benefits Plan

Date of Action: Jan. 6, 2017

Type of Action: Lawsuit to recover missing retirement and health plan funds

Name of Defendant(s): Central Security Communications Inc.
Chief Executive Officer Robert Millikin
Fiduciary Howard Klinger

MONTPELIER, Vt. – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing the fiduciaries of a Vermont employee stock ownership plan for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act alleging that First Bankers Trust Services, Inc.’s 2011 purchase of the company on behalf of the ESOP from its two previous owners caused the plan to suffer sizable financial losses.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration announced today updated guidance for plan fiduciaries with respect to proxy voting. Specifically, the agency released Interpretive Bulletin 2016-01, which withdraws IB 2008-2 and reinstates earlier guidance related to such proxy voting, but with certain updates to clarify what the law requires of plan fiduciaries.