U.S. Labor Department obtains appointment of independent fiduciary to oversee abandoned Oklahoma 401(k) plan

Dallas – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment appointing G Trust as the independent fiduciary of the 401(k) plan of defunct Warren Manufacturing Inc. of Morris, Oklahoma. The court order gives G Trust authority to manage the assets of the abandoned 401(k), terminate the plan and distribute $16,159.55 to nine participants.

The department simultaneously filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma alleging that the trustees failed to administer the plan after the company ceased operation. The suit also alleges that the plan was left without a fiduciary or trustee, leaving participants unable to access their plan accounts. The plan’s assets are held by custodial trustee American Funds Services Co.

“Abandoning the plan results in abandoning the workers who invested in it,” said Roger Hilburn, regional director of the Dallas Regional Office for the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). “We took this legal action so the plan participants can access their retirement funds.”

The Labor Department has issued rules to facilitate a voluntary, safe and efficient process for terminating businesses of abandoned plans. The rules allow financial institutions holding assets of abandoned plans to take responsibility and distribute the assets to affected workers and their families. In cases where the involved financial institutions decline that role, an independent fiduciary can be appointed to finalize the plan’s business. The department estimates that 1,650 such plans are abandoned each year. Information about the rules is available under the Abandoned Plan Program section of EBSA’s Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Employers and workers can contact the agency’s Dallas office at 972.850.4500 or toll-free at 866.444.3272 for help with problems relating to private sector pension and health plans. In fiscal year 2008, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.2 billion related to the pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American workers and their families.

Solis v. Warren Manufacturing Inc. 401(k) Plan
Civil Action Number 6:09-cv-00120

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