November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues Dallas paralegal company and executive to recover plan assets for company's SIMPLE IRA plan

DALLAS - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Paralegals Plus Inc. in Dallas and its chief executive officer for failure to remit employee contributions and plan assets to the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan and for using the plan's assets to benefit the company, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues Charleston, SC, heating and air conditioning company to restore more than $44,000 in retirement plan losses

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Charleston, S.C.-based Wappoo Service Heating and Air Conditioning and its president, Perry Miles, to restore $44,250.34 in losses suffered by participants and beneficiaries of the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan. The lawsuit followed an investigation by the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues Tucson, Ariz., sand and gravel company to protect employee benefit assets

TUCSON, Ariz. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a former Tucson company and its owner for failing to protect the interests of the participants in the company's 401(k) profit sharing plan. In the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the Labor Department is seeking repayment of at least $2,000 in employee salary reductions, plus lost opportunity costs from defunct Sonora Environmental LLC and its former owner and president, Lee Jolley.

November 16, 2010

US Labor Department sues owner of defunct Mass. & RI company to restore more than $6.6 million in misused funds owed to company pension plan

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Fathalla M. Mashali, owner and president of the now defunct Northern Rhode Island Anesthesia Associates P.C. and its subsidiaries, for failing to forward more than $6 million in contributions plus interest owed to the company’s pension plan, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The company operated subsidiaries throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

November 16, 2010

US Department of Labor sues Quality Tool and Machine Inc. and president to restore more than $9,000 to SIMPLE IRA plan

SPARTA, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Quality Tool and Machine Inc. of Sparta and the company’s president, Jerry Freimuth, for allegedly failing to forward $9,672 in employee contributions to the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 16, 2010

US Labor Department sues defunct Anaheim contractor to recover employee contributions for SIMPLE IRA plan

PASADENA, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a former Anaheim, Calif., mechanical subcontractor and its president to restore approximately $16,000 owed to the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan.

November 16, 2010

US Labor Department sues Utah company and owner to recover plan assets for abandoned 401(k) plan

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah - The U.S. Department of Labor sued Fooptube LLC of South Jordan, and its owner, David Rushton, for failing to forward delinquent employee contributions owed to the company's 401(k) profit sharing plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues Florida Family Magazine to restore retirement plan assets to plan participants and beneficiaries

SARASOTA, Fla. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Florida Family Magazine and its owner, Mary Elizabeth Winkle, to restore employer and employee assets owed to the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan, for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries.

November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues Kirkland, Wash., firm and officers over delinquent contributions owed to 401(k) plan

SEATTLE - Kirkland, Wash.-based Kineticsware Inc. and executives of the company were sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegedly failing to timely remit employee and matching employer contributions to the company's 401(k) plan.

November 16, 2010

US Labor Department sues defunct Lexington, SC, steel fabricator to restore more than $7,000 in losses suffered by retirement plan participants

LEXINGTON, S.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing the former Rogers Steel Co. and its owner to restore losses suffered by participants and beneficiaries of the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan. Rogers Steel Co. was a steel fabricator located in Lexington.

November 16, 2010

US Labor Department sues Dallas-based Calypso Waterjet Systems and its officers to recover workers’ 401(k) contributions and payments

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Calypso Waterjet Systems Inc. of Dallas and its officers for allegedly failing to forward employee contributions and loan repayments to the company’s 401(k) plan and for misusing plan assets for the benefit of the company in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues executive of defunct Newburgh, NY, employer to restore funds to company SIMPLE IRA retirement plan

NEW YORK - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued an officer of defunct Finnegan's Moving & Warehouse of Newburgh, N.Y., for failing to forward delinquent employee and employer contributions to the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account, or SIMPLE IRA plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues defunct Windjammer Barefoot Cruises to restore losses to 401(k) plan participants and beneficiaries

MIAMI - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Windjammer Barefoot Cruises Ltd. and its fiduciaries to restore $24,655.77 to the company's 401(k) retirement plan for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries. Windjammer Barefoot Cruises provided leisure cruises until 2007 and was based in Miami Beach, Fla.

The lawsuit follows an investigation by the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 16, 2010

U.S. Labor Department sues defunct Franklin, Tenn., homebuilder to restore losses suffered by 401(k) retirement plan participants and beneficiaries

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - The U.S. Department of Labor is suing defunct homebuilder Corinthian Custom Homes Inc. and its fiduciaries to restore losses suffered by participants and beneficiaries of the company's 401(k) retirement plan.

November 15, 2010

EBSA Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis C. Borzi to discuss enforcement initiative to protect workers’ retirement and health benefits

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration Phyllis C. Borzi will hold a conference call with members of the media on Nov. 16, to discuss a nationwide enforcement initiative to protect the retirement and health benefits of workers. The employee contributions initiative protects contributions deducted from workers’ paychecks by ensuring that the funds are deposited into their plans in order to pay future benefits.

November 9, 2010

Virginia woman sentenced to prison and ordered to repay approximately $57,000 in restitution to plan participants

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The U. S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced that Kim Ghi Martin was sentenced to three months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $56,957.18 in restitution.

November 8, 2010

Oregon supermarket chain agrees to restore up to $8 million to C&K Market 401(k) plan under settlement with US Department of Labor

EUGENE, Ore. – C&K Market Inc. of Brookings, Ore., has agreed to restore $3 million in cash plus interest and to sell property owned by the C&K Market Inc. 401(k) plan, among other steps, in order to make restitution for a series of imprudent loans made with plan assets in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. C&K Market operates approximately 50 supermarkets in southern Oregon and northern California.

November 4, 2010

US Labor Department sues Miller Homes of Hudson LLC and former vice president to recover more than $21,000 in employee contributions

HUDSON, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Miller Homes of Hudson LLC and the company’s former vice president, Leo Draveling, seeking restitution of $21,716.10 in voluntary employee contributions plus loss interest to the company’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement accounts. The case resulted from an investigation by the department into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

November 4, 2010

US Labor Department obtains default judgment against Oregon-based company and owner to restore nearly $178,000 to retirement plan

PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment ordering Skinner Bonding of Oregon Inc. and Mary Anne Skinner, the company’s former owner and president, to restore $177,807 to the company’s salary savings and profit-sharing plan.

November 4, 2010

U.S. Department of Labor announces Dec. 7 hearing on disclosure of fees and expenses to welfare benefit plan fiduciaries

WASHINGTON – The U. S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold a public hearing Dec. 7, 2010, on issues relating to disclosure of fees, conflicts of interest and other information by service providers to health, disability, severance and other employee welfare benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to fiduciaries of such plans.