Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Hartford, Connecticut – Trustees of the James T. Farrell III Money Purchase Pension Plan in Hartford misused more than $960,000 in plan assets to pay their personal expenses and operating expenses of Farrell Associates in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), according to a lawsuit filed by the U. S. Department of Labor.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Austin, Texas – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued fiduciaries of the 401(k) plan for employees of the Brown Schools Inc., based in Austin, for failure to forward employee contributions to the company’s 401(k) plan and misusing those assets to pay the operating expenses of the school.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Juan, Puerto Rico – The union Sindicato de los Empleados de Equipo Pesado, Construcción y Ramas Anexas de Puerto Rico Inc. has agreed to pay $70,986.46 in restitution to the Plan de Bienestar de los Empleados de Equipo Pesado Construcción Ramas Anexas de Puerto Rico Inc. under a consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Cincinnati – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment against Woodford Memorial Hospital Inc. of Versailles, Kentucky, removing the hospital as fiduciary of its retirement and thrift plan, and appointing an independent fiduciary to oversee the collection, management and liquidation of assets for the benefit of the plan’s participants.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

WASHINGTON — Elaine L. Chao, U.S. secretary of labor, and Christopher Cox, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), today agreed to make permanent their agencies' longstanding relationship of sharing information on retirement and investments to protect the $5.8 trillion in retirement assets of American workers, retirees and their families held in employee benefit plans by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) today unveiled two initiatives aimed at promoting the hiring of veterans and protecting the rights of applicants with disabilities: The Good Faith Initiative for Veterans Employment (G-FIVE) and Ensuring the Accessibility of Online Application Systems.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in which Phoenix-based Hyacinth Corp. and its president agreed to restore $125,000 owed to participants of the corporation’s money purchase plan.

Agency also marks 70th anniversary of Fair Labor Standards Act

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor reminds employers and employees that the federal minimum wage will increase to $6.55 on Thursday, July 24. With this change, employees who are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will be entitled to pay at no less than $6.55 per hour.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced that "America's People, America's Talent... America's Strength!" will be the official 2008 theme for National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is observed in October nationwide. The 2008 theme captures the accomplishments highlighted in the 2007 progress report on President Bush's New Freedom Initiative for people with disabilities.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued North Valley Precision Products of Reno, Nevada, for misusing 401(k) plan assets that resulted in 12 former employees being unable to access their retirement plan accounts.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Seattle – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold free, half-day workshops July 29 in Seattle to help employers, the employee benefit community and others better comply with the federal pension law.

The workshops will be held at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. PDT in the Henry Jackson Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue in the Evergreen Room.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule that will make it easier for an estimated 65 million participants covered by 401(k)-type plans to make informed retirement savings decisions. The proposal would provide workers with useful summary information, including fee and expense information, for investment options available under their plans.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New York – Two officers of defunct New York City and Santa Monica, California-based textile companies American Fabrics Co. and Beverly Trimming Co. agreed to restore $111,260 to the companies’ 401(k) plan to resolve a Labor Department lawsuit alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a purported employer association, a health fund trustee, and the fund’s consultant over alleged imprudent management of the Manufacturing and Industrial Workers Benefit Fund (MIWU) of Bryan, Texas. The defendants’ actions allegedly resulted in more than $3.4 million in unpaid health claims affecting participants in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and other states.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New Haven – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct VA Construction LLC of Waterbury, Connecticut.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Salina, Kansas – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the trustees of the 401(k) and health plans of defunct B&W Electrical Contractors Inc. (formerly of Salina) for failure to forward $22,670.22 in employee contributions to the 401(k) plan and $7,584.82 in health care premiums to the health plan.

Dublin, Ohio – A federal district court in Columbus has granted the U.S. Department of Labor a consent judgment to distribute more than $600,000 in 401(k) assets owed to former workers of American Systems Consulting Inc. of Dublin.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced guidance to help plan administrators and service providers comply with the new requirements for reporting service provider fee and compensation information applicable to Form 5500 Annual Returns/Reports filed for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Toledo, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment restoring more than $25,000 owed to the retirement savings plan of Tana Corp. in Toledo as resolution of its lawsuit against the company and plan fiduciary Sharon Scherkoske.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Ligonier, Pennsylvania – William R. McAnulty, trustee of the E.R. Caldwell Land Clearing Contractors Inc.’s 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan in Ligonier has agreed to restore $117,477 to the plan to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor.