US Labor Department files lawsuit to appoint independent fiduciary for the Horizon NR LLC employee savings plan in Ashland, Kentucky

Date of Action: March 07, 2016

Type of Action: Complaint

Name of Defendants: Horizon NR LLC, Lance Sogan, Horizon NR LLC Employee Savings Plan and Trust

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration found that Horizon NR LLC and Lance Sogan, fiduciaries to the Horizon NR LLC Employee Savings Plan and Trust, violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Horizon was headquartered in Ashland, Kentucky and sponsored the plan for the coal mining industry. Investigators discovered that the defendants failed to properly administer and terminate the plan following Horizon NR LLC ceasing operations on Sept. 28, 2004, and completing bankruptcy on Dec. 31, 2008. The failure of the plan’s fiduciaries to administer the plan has meant that plan assets were not properly distributed to the plan’s participants or their beneficiaries and some plan beneficiaries have been unable to collect money from their plan account. The plan had 144 participants and $2,296,818 in plan assets as of September 2015.

Resolution: The department seeks a judgment removing Horizon and Sogan as fiduciaries of the plan and the appointment of an independent fiduciary that will administer the plan, distribute plan assets to participants and beneficiaries, and terminate the plan.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

Docket Number: 0:16-cv-00030-HRW

Employers and workers can contact EBSA toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems related to private sector retirement and health plans. Additional information can be found at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/.