U.S. Labor Department Seeks Trustee for Orphaned Kendallville Castings Pension Plans

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Chicago, Illinois - The U.S. Department of Labor filed a suit against the now defunct Kendallville (Indiana) Castings, Inc., to obtain a court-appointed trustee to administer and terminate the company’s union and non-union pension plans.

According to the suit, filed on December 4 in federal district court in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, participants and beneficiaries of the plans have been unable to obtain distributions from their individual accounts and their calls to the company have gone unanswered since the company ceased operating in 1994 and was administratively dissolved by the state of Indiana on November 2, 1994.

The department alleges that the plans have become orphan plans because the sole trustee, Robert A. Johnson, left the state in 1994 with no forwarding address, the company did not remove him as trustee and did not appoint a successor to terminate the plan. In addition, Kendallville Castings failed to notify the plans’ participants that the company was being dissolved. During this time, the 16 participants and funds, which totaled $9,707.41 as of December 31, 2000, have been waiting for court action to resolve the issue and free up their accounts.

Plans become orphan plans when they are abandoned by all plan fiduciaries designated to manage and operate the plans and their assets. As a result, participants and beneficiaries are unable to receive pension distributions and to make inquiries about their benefits. Kendallville Castings, Inc. created the two plans December 31, 1987.

The investigation leading to the civil lawsuit was conducted by the Chicago regional office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration into alleged violations of federal pension law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

(Chao v. Kendallville Castings, Inc. et al
Civil Action No. 1:01CV0439)

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.