WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has announced improved procedures for plan sponsors who wish to obtain fiduciary relief for a service provider’s failure to comply with the department’s plan-level fee disclosure rule. http://webapps.dol.gov/FederalRegister/HtmlDisplay.aspx?DocId=26218&AgencyId=8&DocumentType=2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor that followed an investigation by its Employee Benefits Security Administration, a federal judge has ordered the president of Columbus-based Clark Graphics, Mary Clark, to restore $505,551.46 to the company’s two employee retirement plans. Additionally, Marcia Dowdell, the president of Pension Retirement Planning who served as administrator for the plans, has been ordered to restore funds to both plans.

SAN FRANCISCO ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance will host a two-day health benefits laws compliance seminar in Billings, Mont., for small and mid-size employers, third-party administrators and insurers July 25 and 26. The seminar is designed to provide practical information, helpful tips and clarification regarding federal as well as state laws. The event is free, and interested parties are encouraged to register early.

CHICAGO – To resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal judge in Chicago has signed a consent order between the United Employee Benefit Fund in Northbrook and the secretary of labor to amend the United Employee Benefit Fund’s governing documents so that they comply with requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code.

ARLINGTON, Va. ‒ The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association agreed to restore $27,272,727 to three association-sponsored employee benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This agreement follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration that found the association selected itself as a service provider to the plans, determined its own compensation and made payments to itself that exceeded NRECA’s direct expenses in providing services to the plans, in violation of ERISA.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement with the former president and CEO of Aliso Viejo-based Journey Electrical Technologies Inc., a defunct electrical contractor, to restore $570,983 to the company’s 401(k) plan. According to a partial consent judgment and order, Mark Dell Donne of San Clemente has agreed to restore $472,235 to the plan.

WASHINGTON — On June 13, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho granted the U.S. Department of Labor's motion for preliminary injunction against Matthew D. Hutcheson and Hutcheson Walker Advisors LLC. The court found that the department had "demonstrated the type of immediate and irreparable injury necessitating entry of a preliminary injunction."

CHICAGO – Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and resulting lawsuit, a federal court has issued a default judgment against the co-founder and director of the now defunct Elmhurst-based investment management company Results One Financial LLC. Steven Salutric has been ordered to restore $1,211,902.25 to four pension plan client accounts from which he allegedly withdrew funds from 2005 through 2009 in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Missouri Department of Insurance will host a two-day health benefits laws compliance seminar for small- and mid-sized employers, third-party administrators and insurers in the St. Louis area. The seminar is designed to provide practical information, helpful tips, and clarification regarding federal and state laws. The free event is open to the public and the media, and interested parties are encouraged to register early.

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 Aug. 3.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration will host a retirement plan compliance assistance seminar in Manhattan on June 13. The seminar is designed to help small business owners understand their fiduciary responsibilities when operating private sector retirement plans. It is free and open to the first 90 registrants.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration will host a retirement plan compliance assistance seminar in Boston June 6. The seminar is designed to help small business owners understand their fiduciary responsibilities when operating private sector retirement plans. It is free and open to the first 90 registrants.

WEEHAWKEN, N.J. ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of Worldwide Trade Resources Inc., formerly located in Weehawken. As of Jan. 31, 2011, the latest information available, the plan had 52 participants and assets totaling approximately $2.2 million.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho against Matthew D. Hutcheson alleging that he violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The complaint alleges that, toward the end of 2010, Hutcheson used more than $3.2 million representing the retirement plan savings of workers from multiple employers for his own personal expenses and in an attempt to purchase an interest in the Tamarack Resort — a failed ski and golf resort in Idaho.

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement with a California fruit and nut company to restore a total of $1,287,901 to the company's pension plan. In a consent judgment entered this month in the U.S. District Court's Central District in Los Angeles, officers of Los Angeles-based Western Mixers Inc. agreed to restore $802,901to participants' accounts within 10 days. During the course of the investigation leading up to the lawsuit, the company repaid to the plan $485,000 of the total funds identified as missing.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has issued guidance meant to help plan administrators and service providers comply with the requirements of new rules improving the transparency of fees and investment expenses in retirement plans. A set of frequently asked questions and answers is published in Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2012-02.

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking to recover losses suffered by participants in the Parrot Cellular Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP. The department's suit is based on an investigation conducted by its Employee Benefits Security Administration that found violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint in federal court seeking to restore a total of $63,582.14 in health care premiums and retirement plan contributions withheld from the paychecks of employees at several companies that are part of the JJD Industries group in Schiller Park, Ill.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration will hold a free retirement savings forum on Saturday, April 28, from 12:30–3:30 p.m. EDT at Spelman College Albro-Falconer-Manley Science Center, Room 134, 350 Spelman Lane SW, Atlanta, Ga. 30314. Hosted in coordination with the Economics Department at Spelman College, the "African-Americans and Retirement: What You Should Know Before It's Too Late" forum is open to the public and the media.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Morgan Keegan and Co. Inc. has agreed to pay $633,715.46 to 10 pension plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This agreement follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration that found the full-service brokerage company violated federal law when it recommended certain hedge funds of funds as investments to its ERISA-covered employee benefit plan clients. These recommendations resulted in the hedge funds of funds paying Morgan Keegan revenue-sharing and other fees.