San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold a free workshop July 8 at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys, California, to help employers and health and pension plan administrators better understand and comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal law that governs private sector pension and health benefit plans for employees.

Tampa, Florida – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has sued Blanchette Construction and its owners to restore assets to the former company’s 401(k) plan.

Mondsview, Minnesota – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment in federal district court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that orders the appointment of an independent fiduciary to terminate the 401(k) plan of a former Mondsview trucking company and to distribute the plan’s assets to participants.

The court action resolves a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department against Hyman Freightways Inc., which ceased operation in October 1997, and will lead to the distribution of $164,251 in plan assets to 14 participants.

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will sponsor “Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities,” a free compliance assistance seminar in Atlanta on July 9 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 1000 Peachtree Street NE.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) jointly will hold a public hearing on June 18 to hear testimony on the investment of 401(k) and other retirement plans in target date funds. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. EDT in the department’s auditorium, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W. in Washington.

Charlotte, North Carolina – The U.S. Department of Labor will sponsor free workshops to assist employers and service providers in understanding and complying with federal regulations regarding employee pension and health benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Representatives from the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will conduct the seminars at the Hilton Charlotte Executive Park, 5624 Westpark Drive in Charlotte, on June 17 and 18.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into settlement agreements with Aloha Airlines Inc., Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank, which agreed to pay $9,545,454 to the airline’s three pension plans for losses the plans suffered on investments in stock of the airline’s holding company. Both Aloha and its holding company are bankrupt. The money will be paid to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the trustee of the plans.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a free webcast to assist plan sponsors and service providers with upcoming changes to the Form 5500 and electronic filing requirements that start with the 2009 plan year filings.

Atlanta — The owner of defunct Wesco Signs Inc., Concord, North Carolina, has been ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro to pay $57,089.25 in restitution to the company’s 401(k) and health plans and sentenced to five years of supervised release. Mitchell W. Messer also must perform 416 hours of community service.

Boston – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring the plan administrator and trustee to restore nearly $23,000 owed to the 401(k) plan of defunct Davis Design Associates Inc. of Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

The department sued the company and its president, Paul Stewart Smith – the 401(k) plan trustee – for allegedly violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Seattle – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment against the Seatoma Convalescent Center of Des Moines, Washington, giving its workers access to nearly $18,000 in 401(k) trust assets.

Minneapolis – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment appointing Midwest Fiduciary Services as an independent fiduciary to distribute the assets of the abandoned Nat Joseph Catering Inc. 401(k) plan to eligible participants and beneficiaries.

Washington – The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (also known as the ERISA Advisory Council) will meet June 11 in Washington at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue N.W., Room S-2508.

Washington — The U. S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announced a joint public hearing on June 18, 2009, to hear testimony on the investment of 401(k) and other retirement plans in target date type plans. The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the department’s auditorium, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW in Washington, DC.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced publication of a notice further extending the applicability and effective dates of the final rule on investment advice under the Pension Protection Act to November 18, 2009. The notice is expected to be published in the May 22 edition of the Federal Register.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appeal process individuals can use if they are denied a premium subsidy for their group health plan continuation coverage. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) requires many group health plans to temporarily continue health coverage for employees and their families following termination of employment at the employee’s own expense.

Fargo, North Dakota – A free health law compliance assistance seminar for employers, plan fiduciaries and plan services providers, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the North Dakota Department of Insurance, will take place June 3 and 4 at the Fargo Doublewood Inn & Conference Center at 3333-13th Ave. S.

Frankfort, Illinois – A federal district court in Chicago has granted a consent judgment to the U.S. Department of Labor barring John Patrizi, owner of J&L Electronic Service Inc. at 633 Johnson Ave. in Frankfort, from serving as a fiduciary for any retirement plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and appointing an independent fiduciary to oversee the company’s 401(k) plan.

Kansas City, Missouri — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in Davenport seeking the appointment of an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct MagnaTech Inc., formerly of Brooklyn, Iowa.

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained court judgments restoring $97,317.49 to the Triangle Laboratories Inc. Retirement Fund in Durham, North Carolina.

A lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, alleged that Joseph Morales and four other defendants failed to discharge their fiduciary duties to the 401(k) plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).