U.S. Department of Labor sues defunct Edgewood, Maryland company to protect pension plan participants

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Edgewood, Maryland — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Tectonic Distributing Inc. of Edgewood, Maryland, and its trustee, Everett Walter Bell, for violating their fiduciary duty to the company’s pension plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

“Plan fiduciaries continue to have a responsibility to protect the interests of pension plan participants even after a company ceases operations,” says Mabel Capolongo, regional director of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in Philadelphia.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the suit seeks to appoint an independent fiduciary to terminate the plan and distribute its assets to participants and beneficiaries. As of September 2005, the plan had three participants and approximately $7,417 in assets.

Tectonic established its retirement plan in May 2001. The company ceased operations in early 2004 and elected to terminate the plan. Since June 2005, neither the company nor Bell, as the plan’s trustee, took fiduciary responsibility for the operation or administration of the plan and its assets. As a result, plan participants and beneficiaries were denied access to their individual account balances.

Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s Washington District Office at 301.713.2000 or toll-free at 1.866.444.EBSA (3272) for help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health plans. Information is also available on the agency’s Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa. In fiscal year 2006, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.4 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American workers and their families.

Chao v. Tectonic Distributing, Inc. et.al;
Civil Action Number: 1:07-cv-2843

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.