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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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).

New Haven, Connecticut – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered nearly $32,000 owed to the Image Graphics Inc. Employee 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan. The plan is sponsored and administered by Image Graphics Inc. of Shelton, Connecticut, which was sued by the department for alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will sponsor “Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities” webcasts on May 12 and 13. The webcasts are part of the agency’s national fiduciary education campaign to increase awareness and understanding of basic responsibilities associated with operating private sector retirement plans.

Atlanta – William Traylor, former president of Homeland Entertainment Group Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, will restore $20,092 to the company’s retirement plan as part of a federal consent order and judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

Buffalo, New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment prohibiting a former trustee of the Franbilt Inc. 401(k) Plan from serving as a fiduciary to any employee benefit plan covered by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Franbilt Inc., now defunct, was a steel fabrication plant located in Lockport, New York.

New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed two lawsuits asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York to appoint independent fiduciaries to oversee the abandoned profit-sharing plans of defunct H&M Tool & Machine Co. Inc. and Valmar Industrial Corp., both formerly located in the Binghamton, New York, area.

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing Bonnie Tile and several of its former corporate officers to require them to restore assets to the defunct company’s savings incentive match plan for Employees (SIMPLE IRA) plan.

Washington – The U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services today announced publication of a request for information (RFI) soliciting public comments in advance of developing rulemakings on group health plans. The RFI is published in today’s Federal Register.