U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Consent Order and Judgment to Restore Assets to Participants in Iowa Trucking Company’s Retirement Plan

DES MOINES, IA – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa has issued a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of the Shinn 401(k) Retirement Plan to restore $35,032 to the Eddyville, Iowa-based Ben Shinn Trucking Inc.’s employee benefit plan.

The action follows a U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) investigation that found that fiduciaries – Roger E. Shinn and Ben Shinn Trucking – failed to remit voluntary contributions and loan repayments withheld from employees’ pay to the plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

“This judgment restores to participants their hard-earned retirement funds and protects their future,” said Employee Benefits Security Administration Regional Director James J. Purcell, in Kansas City, Missouri. “Fiduciaries must work solely in the interest of plans and participants, and manage employee benefit plans in accordance with federal laws. Fiduciaries with questions on their role should reach out to EBSA for guidance.”

The consent order and judgment require the fiduciaries to restore $35,032 to the Shinn 401(k) Retirement Plan immediately, an amount that represents employee contributions and participant loan repayments that they had failed to remit to the plan, along with lost earnings. They must also pay a civil penalty of $7,006 for the ERISA violations.

In addition, the court order removes and permanently enjoins Shinn from serving or acting as a service provider to any ERISA-covered employee benefit plan in the future. The court also appointed Receivership Management Inc. of Madison, Tennessee, as the independent fiduciary to allocate and distribute the recovered funds, and to terminate the plan, as ERISA requires.

Prior to this judgment, the fiduciaries had voluntarily repaid an additional $60,988 in employee contributions and participant loan repayments that EBSA’s investigation discovered they had failed to remit.

EBSA’s Kansas City Regional Office investigated the case.

Employers and workers can reach 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/agencies/ebsa.

EBSA’s mission is to assure the security of the retirement, health and other workplace related benefits of America’s workers and their families. EBSA accomplishes this mission by developing effective regulations; assisting and educating workers, plan sponsors, fiduciaries and service providers; and vigorously enforcing the law. 

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

Scalia v. Ben Shinn Trucking Inc., Roger E. Shinn, and Shinn 401(K) Retirement Plan.

Civil Action No. 4:19-cv-00372-RGE-HCA