Thai agricultural workers employed at Hawaiian farms

SAN FRANCISCO — A Los Angeles-based firm employing overseas workers at two Hawaii farms has been ordered to pay $156,995 in back wages plus $135,450 in civil money penalties following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. The department found that Global Horizons Manpower Inc., owned by Mordechai Orian, owes backwages to 88 temporary non-immigrant agricultural workers from Thailand.

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Boston, Massachusetts - The president of West End Lumber Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, has been ordered to repay over $401,000 to two company employee benefit plans to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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U.S. Labor Department Sponsors New York Seminar on Retirement Solutions for Small Businesses under Federal Employee Benefits Law

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San Francisco, California - The former owner of the now-defunct Palm Springs Orthopaedics Medical Clinic has been ordered to pay $33,600 to two employees covered by an employee profit sharing plan. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found that Glenn D. Cunningham, who was the sole owner of the clinic and the plan fiduciary, illegally withdrew funds and failed to deposit participant loan repayments into the plan.

WASHINGTON — DisabilityInfo.gov, a comprehensive one-stop federal Web site for disability-related information and resources, has received the American Association of Webmasters (AAWM) 2006 Gold Award for outstanding design and quality of content. The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) manages the Web site, which can be found at www.DisabilityInfo.gov.

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El Campo, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued El Campo-based Mark’s Machine Co. Inc. and its owners for failing to timely remit $65,337 in employee contributions to the company’s retirement plan and employee premiums to the health plan insurance carrier as required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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Atlanta, Georgia - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the former Lakeside Machine Co., Nashville, Tennessee, along with owner Robert Beach, to restore more than $17,000 to participants in the company’s SIMPLE IRA plan.

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Atlanta - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued to restore more than $6,500 in assets to the 401(k) plan of the former Stewart Law Group, Birmingham, Ala.

"Trustees of a 401(k) plan have a responsibility to ensure that the assets of the plan are used solely to benefit participants," said Howard Marsh, director of the department's Atlanta regional office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, against the trustees of Columbia Services Groups Inc. for failure to remit employee contributions and loan repayments to the company’s 401(k) plan. Columbia was a government contractor that provided information technology assistance to the federal government.

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Department has obtained a settlement permanently barring Austin James Associates, Inc. (AJA) and its president, Curtis M. Herman from serving as fiduciaries to employee benefit plans governed by the Employment Retirement Income Security Inc.

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Boston, Massachusetts - A major owner of Payroll Benefits Inc., Auburn, Maine, agreed to make restitution of more than $125,000 to 18 pension plans administered by the firm. Robert Montgomery, who owned 49% of the company, agreed to the court order to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced today that George's Processing Inc. has agreed to pay $1,235,000 in back wages to 5,482 current and former employees of its Cassville, Mo., poultry processing plant for uncompensated overtime hours. The employees were not paid for time spent putting on (donning) and taking off (doffing) protective clothing and other gear, and walking to and from the changing area to their work stations. The judgment was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in Springfield.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Compass Bank, headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to pay 2,961 employees $1,036,236 in back overtime wages after an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division determined the company had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao this week announced that "Americans with Disabilities: Ready for the Global Workforce" will be the official theme for October's National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is celebrated nationwide.

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San Francisco, California - The U.S. Department of Labor will hold free workshops May 16 to help employers and pension plan administrators better comply with federal pension law. The workshops will be held at the Sacramento Federal Building, 2800 Cottage Way.

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Cincinnati, Ohio - The federal district court in Indianapolis has granted a default judgment to the U.S. Department of Labor, which allows the government to restore retirement savings funds and distribute benefits owed to former workers of T&J Fixturing and Contracting Inc. of Franklin, Indiana, according to the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

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Chicago, Illinois - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the officers of Systems Transport Inc., Elk Grove Village, Illinois, to restore losses suffered by the company’s 401(k) plan when they allegedly failed to remit employee contributions, used plan assets for general company expenses, and failed to administer the plan.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today urged corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals who have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in enhancing employments opportunities for workers with disabilities to apply for the 2006 New Freedom Initiative award. Nominations must be submitted by May 31.

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San Francisco, California - The former owner of a Fresno-based company that provided services to the employee benefit plans of more than 50 California employers has been ordered to pay $316,770 in restitution, and sentenced to 240 days home detention and 60 months probation for mail fraud.

WASHINGTON — For their efforts to promote equal employment opportunity, seven companies and organizations were honored today by the U.S. Department of Labor at an annual awards ceremony hosted by the department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).

Three types of awards — the Secretary of Labor's Opportunity Award, Exemplary Voluntary Efforts Award, and Exemplary Public Interest Contribution Award — were presented to recognize innovative workplace programs and initiatives that increase equal employment opportunity for the American workforce.