Department of Labor obtains default judgment against Minnesota HVAC company to restore $9K in retirement plan contributions

Date of Action:          Sept. 12, 2024                                                                                                                                                 

Type of Action:         Default judgment

Company/Owners:    Todd Dierkes

Dierkes Heating & Air SIMPLE IRA Plan

Dierkes Heating and Air, L.L.C. d/b/a Dierkes Heating and Air Inc.

Resolution: The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a default judgment in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota on Sept. 12, 2024, finding Todd Dierkes and Dierkes Heating and Air LLC. – operating as Dierkes Heating and Air Inc. – liable to the Dierkes Heating & Air SIMPLE IRA Plan in the amount of $9,259 for losses related to the unremitted and untimely remitted employee contributions and lost opportunity costs. The default judgment requires the plan’s custodian to set off $9,259 from the individual account of Todd Dierkes to restore the plan’s losses. 

The judgment also permanently bans the Waite Park, Minnesota, company and Dierkes from serving as fiduciaries or service providers to any other ERISA-covered employee benefit plan and removes them from any positions they now hold as fiduciaries of the plan.

Background: In July 2023, the department filed a lawsuit after an investigation by the Employee Benefits Security Administration alleged the retirement plan’s fiduciaries retained employee salary deferral contributions improperly in the company’s corporate bank account for up to 354 days until they were finally remitted to the plan, and further, used contributions not remitted to the plan to pay Dierkes Heating’s general operating expenses.

Employers and workers can reach EBSA toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems related to private sector retirement and health plans. Learn more about EBSA.

Quote: “The court’s action restores salary contributions that participants in the Dierkes Heating & Air SIMPLE IRA plan believed were contributed to their retirement accounts and earning interest to prepare for their future,” said Employee Benefits Security Administration Regional Director Mark Underwood in Kansas City, Missouri. “Failing to forward employee contributions to employee retirement plans violates the trust placed in fiduciaries and directly impacts plan participants’ retirement savings.”

Docket Number: 23-cv-02032-KMM-LIB