Louisville, Kentucky, restaurant chain agrees to restore participants’ 401(k) funds following U.S. Department of Labor investigation

Louisville, Kentucky – Bristol Bar and Grille and Kevin Wagner have agreed to restore $11,892 to the company’s 401(k) plan based on an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The consent judgment and order, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, follows a Labor Department lawsuit alleging that the defendants withheld employee contributions to the pension plan but failed to segregate them from the company’s general assets as soon as they reasonably could do so, and did not forward all of the contributions to the 401(k) plan. Those funds were co-mingled with the general assets of the company in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Under the agreement, Wagner will oversee the plan until the funds are restored to the plan, and he agreed to terminate the plan and distribute all of the plan’s assets to eligible participants and beneficiaries. Upon termination of the plan, Wagner will be permanently barred from serving as fiduciary of any benefit plan subject to ERISA.

“We are pleased that the Labor Department has successfully protected employees’ retirement funds,” said Paul Baumann, regional director of the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) office in Cincinnati. “Fiduciaries are legally required to act only in the best interests of plan participants.”

Bristol Bar and Grille is a restaurant chain located in the Louisville area.

The suit resulted from an investigation conducted by EBSA’s Cincinnati Regional Office. Employers and workers can reach the office at 859.578.4680 or toll-free at 866.444.3272 for help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health plans. In fiscal year 2008, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.2 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American workers and their families.

Solis v. Wagner
Civil Action File Number 3:09-cv-00056

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