US Labor Department obtains default judgment restoring employee contributions to SIMPLE IRA Plan of defunct Eynon, Pa., company

Date of Action: June 27, 2013

Type of Action: Default judgment

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Charles H. England, and Charles H. England, Inc.

Allegations: In 2005, Charles H. England Inc. established the Charles H. England Inc. SIMPLE IRA Plan for its employees.  An investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration found that from January 2007 through December 2009, employee contributions were withheld by the company and deposited into participants’ accounts for periods ranging up to a year after they were deducted from the employees’ compensation, and found that during the same period, the company did not deposit payroll deductions withheld from the employee’s compensation into the individual plan accounts.  Additionally, since January 2007, the company did not make the required matching contributions to the plan equal to the employee’s salary reduction contributions up to a limit of three percent of the employees’ compensation in accordance with the terms of the plan.  In total, participants are owed approximately $13,700 in unremitted contributions and lost opportunity costs.  The plan has three participants, including the defendant, Charles H. England.

 A default judgment has been entered ordering the defendants to pay the unremitted contributions and interest into the affected participants’ individual plan accounts. The judgment resolves a lawsuit filed by the department on April 3, 2013.

Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Docket Number: 2:12-cv-07119-JD

U.S. Department of Labor materials are accessible at www.dol.gov.  The information above is available in large print, Braille, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.