U.S. Labor Department consent judgment requires corporate officer of Midland Employer Services to repay more than $46,000

Nashville, Tennessee – The U.S. Department of Labor has agreed to an amended consent judgment with David Starkey, a former corporate officer of Midland Employer Services in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville division, the amended judgment requires the defendant to repay the full amount still owed to the former company’s group health plan, currently $46,248.75 plus interest accrued from April 25, 2005, to the present.

The judgment requires the defendant to make monthly payments until the full amount plus interest is paid. As part of the new agreement, the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has agreed not to file a petition with the court requesting an order for civil contempt at this time.

This amended consent judgment enforces the conditions set at the time of the original consent judgment filed in 2005. That consent judgment stated that should the defendant not file for bankruptcy within 12 months, he would be liable for the full amount owed. No bankruptcy petition was ever filed by the defendant.

“We will continue to hold defendants accountable for their agreements and will not allow individuals to evade their responsibilities to plan participants,” said R.C. Marshall, EBSA’s regional director in Atlanta, Georgia.

Midland Employer Services provided employee leasing services to employers until it ceased operations in 2002. EBSA alleges that the company violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act when it abandoned its group health and 401(k) plans without terminating them.

In fiscal year 2009, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.3 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American workers and their families. Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s Atlanta Regional Office at 404.302.3900 or toll-free at 866.444.3272 for help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health plans. For more information, see http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Solis v. David Starkey
Civil Action File Number 3:05-CV-0014-TJC

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