US Labor Department sues defunct Anaheim contractor to recover employee contributions for SIMPLE IRA plan

PASADENA, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a former Anaheim, Calif., mechanical subcontractor and its president to restore approximately $16,000 owed to the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan.

In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, the department asks the court to require that defunct Building Systems Technology Inc. and its former president, Ronald Constantino, restore approximately $9,750 in employee contributions that were not forwarded to the plan plus the lost opportunity costs owed to the plan. The suit follows an investigation by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.

The suit also seeks to remove Constantino as a plan fiduciary and to bar him from serving as a fiduciary or service provider to plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in the future. It also seeks to appoint an independent fiduciary to distribute the plan assets to participants and beneficiaries and to terminate the plan. Constantino also may be subject to a penalty of more than $3,200.

“We pursued legal action to return contributions deducted from workers’ hard-earned paychecks,” said Crisanta Johnson, director of EBSA’s Los Angeles Regional Office. “The Labor Department is committed to protecting the retirement assets of America’s workers and retirees.”

This case is part of EBSA’s employee contribution project to safeguard workers’ contributions to 401(k) and health benefit plans. Employers and workers with questions or concerns regarding their private sector pension and health plans can contact EBSA’s Los Angeles Regional Office, actually located in Pasadena, Calif., at 626-229-1000 or toll-free at 866-444-3272. Information is also available on the agency’s website at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Solis v. Building Systems Technology Inc.

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