Labor Department Files Suit Against Wayne Watson, Springville, Utah, Plan Trustee, For Pension Violations

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced it has filed suit against Wayne B. Watson of Springville, Utah, as fiduciary of the Wayne B. Watson Money Purchase Pension Plan and the Wayne B. Watson Profit Sharing Plan for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) or federal pension law.

The lawsuit was filed Sept. 29, 2000, in the U.S. District Court of Utah, Central Division, in Salt Lake City.

According to Bette Briggs, San Francisco regional director for the Pension Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA), Watson, who was owner of the Wayne B. Watson, APC, law firm which closed in 1993, failed to make benefit distributions to vested participants of the plans in accordance with the plans’ documents despite repeated verbal and written requests from the participants.

The department seeks to have Watson restore to the plans any losses, including lost opportunity costs, resulting from his violations of ERISA.

Also, the lawsuit asks the Court to have Watson removed from his position as fiduciary of the plans; to have an independent trustee appointed whose duties would include administering and terminating the plans according to the law and making distributions to all of the plans’ participants in accordance with the plans’ documents; and requiring Watson to pay all costs associated with the appointment and retention of the independent trustee and the costs associated with the administration of the plans, according to Briggs.

The complaint is the result of an investigation conducted by the department’s San Francisco PWBA Regional Office, headed by Briggs, into alleged violations of ERISA.

Civil Action No. 2:00CV00780C
(Herman v. Wayne B. Watson, et al)

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.