Labor Department Files Suit Against A Software Company And Its Former Executives For Federal Pension Violations

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Los Angeles, California - The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit April 4, 2001, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Uni Prise Systems, Inc., a California corporation; Robert Mowry, Uni Prise’s former chief executive officer and majority shareholder of Uni Prise; and Joseph Perry, Uni Prise’s former director/president, for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

According to Billy Beaver, Los Angeles regional director for the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA), the alleged violations of ERISA occurred when Uni Prise, Mowry, and Perry failed to forward contributions withheld from employee paychecks to the plan.

Uni Prise Systems, Inc., Retirement Savings Plan, an employee benefit plan, was named as a defendant in the suit as an indispensable party for total relief, he added.

The department’s complaint alleges that Mowry exercised the ultimate authority in deciding whether employee contributions were forwarded to the plan or used to pay other Uni Prise business expenses. Mowry was also an individual acting on behalf of Uni Prise as the plan administrator.

The department’s complaint also alleges that Perry ran the daily operations of the Uni Prise and had the authority to decide whether employee contributions were forwarded to the plan or used to pay other Uni Prise expenses. Perry was also an individual acting on behalf of Uni Prise as the plan administrator.

The plan is a defined contribution plan, providing for employee contributions only. Employee contributions were to be forwarded to Principal Financial Group.

The department alleges that from April 1, 1998, through May 21, 1998, employee contributions totaling $12,349 were not forwarded to Principal Financial Group.

The suit asks the court to require the defendants to restore all losses suffered by the plan, including lost interest and lost opportunity costs; to require the plan to set off Perry’s individual plan account against the losses caused by the alleged misconduct; to remove Mowry and Perry as fiduciaries of the plan; to appoint an independent fiduciary to make distributions to the plan’s participants; to require Uni Prise, Mowry and Perry to pay for all costs associated with the appointment and retention of the independent fiduciary; and to bar Uni Prise, Mowry and Perry permanently from serving as fiduciaries of or service providers to any employee benefit plan covered by Title I of ERISA.

This court action was a result of an investigation conducted by the Los Angeles Regional Office of PWBA, headed by Beaver. It is part of an ongoing initiative to insure compliance with ERISA fiduciary standards with respect to timely deposit of employees’ contributions to 401(k) plans.

Beaver said, “This case exemplifies our commitment to protect the hard-earned benefits of workers. Workers can help us protect their plan benefits by contacting our office at 626.583.7862 if they have questions or suspect abuse of their pension, health or other benefit plans.”

(Chao v. Robert Mowry, et al.
Civil Action File No. 01cv00378)

U.S. Department of Labor news releases are accessible on the Internet. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing your request. Call 202.693.7773 or TTY 202.693.7775.

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