Labor Department Settles Lawsuit With Franklin, Tenn. Company

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

A now-defunct Franklin, Tenn., company and its corporate president have agreed to pay the company’s 401(k) plan $38,0390.98, representing employee contributions which were not forwarded to the plan, as settlement of a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit.

Plan administrator Comprehensive Therapies, Inc.(CTI) and company president Irion W. “Chip” Pursell, Jr. also were permanently barred from serving as fiduciaries to any employee benefit plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); however, Pursell will be allowed to remain as a fiduciary of the CTI plan until it is terminated. He has been directed by the federal court to work with a third-party administrator, Benefit Services Corp. of Atlanta, to locate participants and beneficiaries in order to facilitate the termination.

The plan had 27 participants and assets of $53,149 as of Feb. 21, 2000. CTI ceased doing business on Aug. 15, 1997.

In its lawsuit, the department alleged that the company withheld from employees’ pay their voluntary contributions to the plan but failed to remit $38,031 in employee contributions to the plan from Nov. 30, 1996 through June 30, 1997. In addition, the lawsuit alleges the plan failed to maintain a fidelity bond.

“Our goal is to assure that consumers know the department is only a phone call away to help protect the benefits promised by employers,” said Howard Marsh, director of the Atlanta Regional Office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, which investigated the case. “Employers and workers can reach us at (404) 562-2156 for help with any problems relating to private-sector pension and health plans.”

The judgment was entered Dec. 28 in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee.

(Herman v. Comprehensive Therapies, Inc.)
Civil Action No. 3:00 0571 (Judge Trauger)

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.