Date of Action:  Aug. 18, 2011

Type of Action:  Judgment

Names of Defendants: Subspecialty Centers of America LLC in Merriville, Ind. and the company’s owner, Mark S. Weinberger.

Allegations: Subspecialty Centers of America LLC in Merriville and Weinberger, allegedly failing to administer and terminate the Subspecialty Centers of America LLC 401(k) Plan and Trust in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct SEI Environmental Inc. and its president, Wiley McAllen Finley, to force the repayment of employee contributions totaling $10,717 that the suit alleges were not forwarded to the environmental consulting company’s 401(k) plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

PASADENA, Texas – A consent judgment and order have been entered in federal district court requiring $28,504 to be restored to the Modern Plumbing Co. Inc. 401(k) Plan, resolving a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor. The suit alleged that the following defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act: Modern Plumbing Co. Inc.; Modern Plumbing Supply Inc.; Modern Air Conditioning Inc., doing business as A/C Plus of Pasadena; and Albert Lloyd Hollub, one of the companies' majority owners.

LINCOLNTON , N.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Lincolnton-based Belding Hausman Inc. and President Curtis Wilford Stowe to restore $144,459 in employee contributions, employee loan repayments and lost earnings to the defunct company’s deferred compensation plan. The lawsuit follows an investigation by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration that found the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting nominations to fill five three-year vacancies on the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council. The deadline to submit nominations is Sept. 16.

Date of Action:  July 14, 2011

Type of Action:  Consent order and judgment

Name(s) of Defendant: SME Inc., d/b/a Allegra Print & Imaging and Sean Eagan, individually and as fiduciaries to the Allegra Print and Imaging 401(k) Plan and Trust and the Allegra Print and Imaging Health Plan

MINNEAPOLIS – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the Mirror Factory Inc., a custom mirror and glass company in Plymouth, Minn., and its co-owners, Jeff Hagstrom and Daniel Elofson, to restore $14,651.38 in employees’ pre-tax contributions plus lost interest to the company’s 401(k) plan. The case resulted from an investigation by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment that restores $16,047 to the participants in Craftsmen Custom Cabinets Inc.’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, the judgment issued by Judge Marvin Shoob requires that Barry Pugh and his wife, Cynthia Pugh, restore the funds and that none of the restored funds shall be allocated to the accounts of either of the defendants.  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order to restore $46,869 to the employee benefit plan of now defunct AC General Engineering Inc., formerly located in Sacramento. The consent judgment and order resolve a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against the company and its officers and co-owners, Christopher Barringer and Atilano Alcala.

Date of Action:  June 30, 2011

Type of Action:  Complaint to appoint an independent fiduciary to terminate the plan and distribute its assets

Names of Defendant: JMN Consulting, Inc. and JMN Consulting, Inc. 401(k) P/S Plan

Date of Action:  June 29, 2011

Names of Defendants:  James H. Trotter, Sr.; Sylvia Trotter; Trotter Construction Company, Inc.; Trotter Development Group, NC, LLC, and The Trotter Construction Company, Inc. 401(K) Plan located in Indianapolis, Ind.

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Dowe and Wagner Inc., a heating and air conditioning company in Richmond, and its co-owners, Joseph Wagner and Thomas Eppers, to restore $31,650 to the company’s 401(k) plan. The case resulted from an investigation by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Webcast to offer free advice on money management and saving for retirement

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration will host its first Spanish-language "Guide to Retirement Saving" webcast on June 22. The free event will be co-sponsored by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. in coordination with the National Council of La Raza.

Date of Action:  June 9, 2011

Type of Action:  Consent order and judgment

Name(s) of Defendant: Susan Joos and the Joos Electric Co. 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust

Date of Action: June 13, 2011

Name(s) of Defendant(s): The Open Webs Corp.

Allegations

PORT ARTHUR, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that Michael Doggett, business representative for the Carpenters Local Union 502 in Port Arthur, has been sentenced to five months in prison and ordered to make $39,324 in restitution payments for embezzling from a union benefit plan.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has announced that it will publish in tomorrow's Federal Register a notice proposing to extend and align the applicability dates for its retirement plan fee disclosure rules.

TUCKER, Ga. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued fiduciaries of architectural company Milton Pate and Associates seeking to recover $135,516 for participants and beneficiaries of the company’s 401(k) profit-sharing plan.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, alleges that the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by taking prohibited loans from the plan and not forwarding employee contributions to the plan in a timely manner.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct mental health services provider Embrenche LLC and the company’s owners, Marty Hickman, Joe Parker and Avery Hairston, for allegedly violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.  The lawsuit alleges that the defendants diverted employees’ contributions away from the company’s 401(k) profit-sharing plan, and failed to administer and terminate the plan after the company ceased operating.

FLETCHER, N.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued former Fletcher-based Unicomp Inc. and its chief executive officer, Stephen Hafer, to restore losses suffered by participants in the company’s health plan.