U.S. Labor Department obtains judgment appointing independent fiduciary to oversee abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Minneapolis employer

Minneapolis – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment appointing Midwest Fiduciary Services as an independent fiduciary to distribute the assets of the abandoned Nat Joseph Catering Inc. 401(k) plan to eligible participants and beneficiaries.

The court order also removes Burton Joseph, who was the sole owner of Nat Joseph Catering Inc. and its named trustee, and permanently bars him from serving as a fiduciary or service provider to any plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The department’s suit alleged that the company abandoned the plan and failed to ensure that plan assets totaling more than $29,000 were distributed to the eight plan participants. The company ceased operating in November 2004 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Minneapolis.

“The department acts quickly to help workers obtain their benefits when plan assets are either misused or the plans are abandoned,” said Steve Eischen, regional director in Kansas City, Missouri, for the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), which investigated the case.

Retirement plans become orphan plans when they are abandoned by all fiduciaries designated to manage and operate them and their assets. As a result of the abandonment, participants and beneficiaries are unable to communicate with the plan fiduciary or obtain distributions from their accounts.

Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s Kansas City Regional Office at 816.426.5131 or through EBSA’s toll-free number, 866.444.EBSA (3272), for help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health plans.

Chao v. Burton Joseph and Nat Joseph Catering Inc., 401(k) Plan
Civil Action Number: 0:09-cv-00027-MJD-FLN

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