WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced initial funding allocations for Trade Adjustment Assistance for states to assist workers who lose their jobs due to outsourcing and foreign trade.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement after the Senate's failure to invoke cloture (by a margin of 58 to 41) on S. 3772 – the Paycheck Fairness Act:

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment against trustee Samuel Kohl and default judgments against trustee Caren Kohl and Welko Inc. of New York City as fiduciaries of the Welko Inc. Pension Plan, permanently barring them from serving in a fiduciary capacity to any employee benefit plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the findings of a multi-year study of the impact of the Unemployment Insurance program in stabilizing the economy during a deep recession. The study was commissioned by the department and undertaken by IMPAQ International LLC and the Urban Institute.

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.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a series of enforcement actions to protect more than $7 million for workers in retirement plans or health plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

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.

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.

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.

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.

FRANKLIN, Ky. – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing Truck It Inc. of Franklin and company owner Steven Ligon to restore employee contributions and lost opportunity costs to participants in the company’s 401(k) retirement plan.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Custom Navigation Systems Inc. of Westbrook, Conn., and company president Steven G. Gill for failing to forward $70,000 in employee contributions and loan repayments withheld from employees’ paychecks to the company’s 401(k) plan, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

ALTUS, Okla. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner of defunct Quartz Mountain Aerospace Inc., which operated in Altus, Okla., and Coffeeville, Kan., for misusing assets of the company's welfare benefit plan to benefit himself and the company.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Hensley Engineering Group LLC of Albuquerque and its president, Lisa Hensley, for misusing assets of $48,528.30 in employee contributions owed to the company's 401(k) plan to benefit themselves.

PASADENA, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Sophisticated Technologies Inc., a defunct system design and software company in Woodland Hills, Calif., and former president Moshe Klein for failure to protect $26,825 in employee contributions plus lost opportunity costs owed to the company’s 401(k) plan.

HOUSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued NSC Cos. Inc. of Houston and its owner for failing to remit or timely forward employee contributions to the company’s 401(k) plan and using the plan’s assets for their own benefit, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

SOMERSET, Pa. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Super City Sports Sales Inc., general manager James V. Sujansky and parent company Pioneer Inc. for failing to remit employee contributions to the company's 401(k) profit-sharing plan, and for withdrawing all remaining plan funds in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

OCALA, Fla. - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the defunct Triple T Construction Inc. and its owner, George Thompson III, to restore assets to the former company's 401(k) plan for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries.

AUSTIN, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor sued the chief financial officer and husband of the owner of bankrupt TLS Vets P.A., located in Austin, for misusing 401(k) profit sharing assets to benefit himself and the veterinary clinic.

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.