Labor Department Files A Petition For Civil Contempt And Secures A Court Order Against Myron G. Place

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U. S. Department of Labor filed a petition for civil contempt and secured a court order requiring Myron G. Place, a trustee of Buckeye Technical Services, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio, to pay more than $19,000 to the company’s 401(k) plan. He had failed to comply with provisions of an August 1999 consent order and judgment with the department that required him to restore the plan money.

The consent order and judgment required Place to repay $19,675 to the Buckeye Technical Services, Inc. Retirement Plan. It resulted from a Department of Labor lawsuit that alleged Place and former trustee William R. Kugel, Jr., withheld voluntary plan contributions from employees’ paychecks from October 1992 to June 1995, but failed to deposit them into the employees’ plan accounts.

Buckeye Technical Services had filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy at the time of the consent order and judgment, which stipulated that Place be held liable for the amount of $19,675 if reorganization of the company did not occur. When the bankruptcy case was dismissed, the department’s repeated attempts to work out a payment schedule with Place for the outstanding debt were unsuccessful.

The department then proceeded to enforce the judgment by filing a petition for civil contempt against Place, which led to the July 14 court order. The court order stipulates that Place is liable for $19, 675, plus interest, from Sept. 21, 1999, forward, until the debt is paid in full. Terms of the order also require that Place pay the plan administrator $300 on the 15th of each month, beginning July 15, 2000, and if he realizes any monetary settlement from a separate court action in which he is involved, that settlement amount, up to the amount of his remaining debt, would go to the plan.

The court actions resulted from an investigation of the Cincinnati Regional Office of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration into violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The court order was issued in the federal district court in Columbus, Ohio.

“Any time we bring a lawsuit, we have a commitment to diligently pursue that lawsuit to protect participants and beneficiaries,” said Joseph Menez, PWBA Regional Director for Cincinnati. Workers can help protect plan benefits by contacting the Cincinnati Regional PWBA office at 859-578-4680 about any suspected abuse of their pension, health or other benefit plans.

Herman v. Buckeye
Civil Action No. C298-0140

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