Labor Department Sues New Castle Engineering For Violating Federal Pension Law

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Today the U.S. Department of Labor sued Philip E. Coursen, plan trustee of the New Castle Engineering, Inc. deferred profit sharing plan for failing to forward weekly employee contributions and loan repayments to the plan, and for failing to pay interest on employee contributions and loan repayments which were paid late.

Also named in the lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Indianapolis, is New Castle Engineering, Inc. of New Castle, Ind., to enjoin it from further violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

New Castle’s primary business is the repair of industrial equipment. There were 47 participants, including Coursen, and plan assets totaling $1,142,853 as of Dec. 31, 1997.

As part of its complaint, the department alleged that during the period of Sept. 2, 1999, to Feb. 28, 2000, New Castle and Coursen withheld $24,103.46 in voluntary employee contributions to the plan from employee paychecks as well as $10,598 in voluntary loan repayments to the plan, retained those contributions and loan repayments in the company’s general assets and failed to remit these amounts to the plan’s investment accounts.

New Castle has been operating under the protection of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code since Feb. 29, 2000. Starting in August, 2000, the company has repaid $12,428 to the plan through the Bankruptcy Court.

The department is asking the federal district court to order defendant Coursen to make good to the plan the losses suffered because of his breaches of ERISA, and to have his own account in the plan off set to cover the plan losses, including the lost opportunity costs, if he does not otherwise repay the money.

The complaint is a result of an investigation by the Cincinnati Regional Office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, which oversees federal pension law.

(Herman v. New Castle Engineering, et al)
Civil Action # IPOO-1829 C H/G

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.