Boston – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct Northern Log Homes Inc., formerly based in Bangor, Maine, and former owner Michael Hartt, for allegedly misusing more than $9,000 in assets of the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account (SIMPLE IRA) established for the company’s employees.

New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York to appoint an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Project Solutions Inc. of Rochester, N.Y.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a free retirement planning workshop on Jan. 13, 2010, at the Oxon Hill Public Library in Oxon Hill, Md., to help the public understand how much they will need for a financially secure retirement and ways to close the retirement savings gap. Department of Labor representatives will be joined by a representative from the Social Security Administration.

Pittsburgh – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has obtained a consent agreement with Patrick P. Bane, president of defunct Comtel Communications Inc., requiring him to restore employee contributions owed to the company's 401(k) plan.

The consent order, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, requires the defendant to restore $13,651.18 to the 401(k) plan and removes him as trustee of the plan.

Minneapolis – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner of Marcel's Coffee Gourmet Inc. in Minneapolis for allegedly using employee contributions owed to the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account (SIMPLE IRA) to pay the operating expenses of the company. Marcel's Coffee Gourmet Inc. was a distributor of coffee and coffee supplies until it ceased operations in December 2008.

Atlanta - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment barring People Unlimited Consulting Inc. and two of its officers, Janice Love and Linda Marler, from serving in a fiduciary capacity to any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Raleigh, NC - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring Dale Everett White and Howell Anderson Vaughan to restore $73,432.25 to the Carolina Express Care P.A. 401(k) plan and removing them as fiduciaries of the plan. The judgment resulted from an investigation into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Nashville, TN - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Mark Black, Tom Black and their former company, Synergy Holdings Inc. in Nashville, for allegedly violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by failing to administer the company's 401(k) plan.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary responsibilities when they failed to terminate the company's 401(k) profit-sharing plan and distribute the assets to plan participants after the company ceased operations in 2006.

Pasadena, California – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will sponsor “Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities,” a free retirement plan seminar in Pasadena on January 28, 2010 at the Pasadena Public Library Auditorium.

This seminar is part of EBSA’s national fiduciary education campaign to increase awareness and understanding of basic responsibilities associated with operating private sector retirement plans.

Boston - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Manchester Moving and Storage Inc., based in Manchester, Conn., and company president Frank N. Serignese for alleged misuse of more than $36,000 belonging to the employees of the company's 401(k) plan.

Arlington, Virginia – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to obtain appointment of an independent fiduciary to oversee the 401(k) plan of Global System Enterprises Inc., a defunct company formerly located in Arlington.

“Abandonment of a retirement plan is not an option for companies that go out of business,” said Mabel Capolongo, director of the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “Employers have a legal responsibility to protect the interests of plan participants.”

Boston - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment ordering Yongsik Lee, president and owner of the now-defunct United Automation Technologies Inc. of Westborough, Mass., to properly administer and bring to termination the company's 401(k) plan.

Atlanta – A federal district court in Atlanta has ordered Insight Research and its president, Allen McMillon, to repay to the company's 401(k) plan $99,784.42 plus additional lost earnings accrued between Sept. 22, 2009, and the date of the judgment.

Boston - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of The Law Centers for Consumer Protection, a Bennington, Vt., company that ceased operations in 2003.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has announced a proposed exemption that, if granted, would allow the Ford Motor Co. to transfer company securities to a voluntary employee beneficiary association (VEBA) trust, which would fund a new health plan established to provide health benefits for the company’s retirees. The new health plan would cover in excess of 285,000 retirees and their dependents, and a small number of active employees.

Boston - The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire to appoint an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of Media Solutions Inc. of Merrimack, New Hampshire, a defunct corporation.

Chicago – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the trustees of the employee stock ownership plans and eligible individual account plans of DirecTECH Holding Co. Inc. and its former subsidiaries, DirecTECH Inc., Michigan Microtech Inc., JBM Inc. and DirecTECH Southwest Inc., the companies’ boards of directors and the parties who sold stock at inflated prices to the plans for alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Washington – The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a live Web chat -open to the public and members of the press - to discuss their respective regulatory agendas. The Labor Department's entire regulatory agenda is published in today's Federal Register.

Gulfport, Mississippi – A federal district court in Gulfport, Mississippi, has ordered Jomey B. Ethridge liable for $303,084.61 in assets belonging to the 401(k) plan of bankrupt Struthers Industries and permanently barred him from serving as fiduciary of any plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Boston – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order recovering more than $89,000 owed to the participants of the T.E. Corcoran Co. Inc. Profit Sharing Plan as a result of loans made to the plan sponsor and an affiliated company by plan trustees. The plan was sponsored by the plumbing and heating company based in Brockton, Massachusetts, for the benefit of the company’s employees.