Lansdale, Pennsylvania – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Michael G. Morgan, president of defunct Brandywine Mortgage Corp., for failure to remit employee contributions to the company's SIMPLE IRA plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office in Phoenix have agreed to pay overtime back wages totaling $2,059,807 to 1,690 detention officers and sergeants for uncompensated pre-shift meeting time. The meetings were part of the daily routine at six detention facilities throughout Maricopa County.

Valley View, Ohio – A federal district court in Cleveland, Ohio, has entered a consent order and judgment ordering the owner and president of Antares Group Inc. of Valley View to pay $13,063 in lost opportunity costs to the participants and beneficiaries of the company's 401(k) plan.

Keasbey, New Jersey – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued to have an independent fiduciary appointed to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of Krajack Tank Lines Inc., a defunct company located in Keasbey.

"We took this action to protect the participants who entrusted their savings to the trustees of the plan," said Jonathan Kay, regional director of the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration in New York. "Employers have a legal obligation to properly manage retirement plans when a company goes out of business."

LOS ANGELES Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the San Francisco health coverage suit:

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the need to fund Summer Youth Employment and extend both unemployment insurance and Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act benefits:

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending May 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 460,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 474,000. The 4-week moving average was 456,500, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 454,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending May 15, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the South Dakota Wheat Growers Association of Aberdeen, S.D., more than $1.6 million following the Dec. 22, 2009, death of a worker at the company's McLaughlin, S.D., grain handling operation. The worker suffocated after being engulfed by grain in one of the facility's bins. OSHA's investigation found that five additional workers were also at risk of being engulfed when they were sent into the bin to dig the victim out.

BELVEDERE, Ill. – The U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited NDK Crystals Inc. in Belvedere with fines of $510,000 for alleged egregious willful and serious violations of federal workplace safety standards following an explosion at the companys crystal manufacturing building that took the life of a truck driver parked at a nearby service station. Workers at this facility were exposed to hazards that created a dangerous environment.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $1,753,905 National Emergency Grant increment to the state of Wisconsin to continue to provide services to about 1,334 workers affected by layoffs at multiple companies, particularly in the manufacturing industry.

"This grant will continue to provide these Wisconsinites with the re-employment and retraining services that will help them succeed in today's economy," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Helping workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own is simply the right thing to do."

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is soliciting applications for $8 million in Susan Harwood Safety and Health Capacity Building Training Grants. The grants are available to nonprofit, community and faith-based organizations to provide safety and health training educational programs for workers and employers.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $4,674,400 National Emergency Grant award to assist clean-up and recovery efforts in the wake of the flooding that struck Tennessee in May 2010. Of this amount, $1,752,900 will be released initially.

"The images of Nashville under water have been heart-breaking," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "This grant will support ongoing recovery efforts and provide temporary employment to Tennesseans as they clean-up flood-impacted areas and return their lives to normalcy."

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services will hold the second meeting of the Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program and Employer Sponsored Coverage Coordination Working Group on June 14 in Washington at the Grand Hyatt, 1000 H St. NW.

The working group will meet from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT to hear public testimony from witnesses. The meeting is open to the public. The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 requires the departments to jointly establish the CHIP Working Group.

Birmingham, Alabama – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration is offering a free workshop for employee benefit plan professionals, including clients of plan service providers, on Thursday, June 10, at the Birmingham Social Security Center, 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd. in Birmingham.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today certified for release $11,765,089 in unemployment insurance modernization incentive funds to the state of South Dakota. South Dakota qualified for the remaining two-thirds of its share of the funds available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by enabling certain part-time workers to be eligible for UI benefits and by providing additional weeks of benefits to people who are enrolled in training or education programs.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service today announced a $750,000 grant competition aimed at supporting Department of Labor grantees that provide employment services to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of becoming homeless.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a free webcast June 3 to answer questions from employers, plan administrators and service providers about the Form 5500, EFAST2 and the new e-signature options for electronic filing requirements that began with the 2009 plan year.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced in a notice of proposed rulemaking published in today's Federal Register its plans to require improved worker protection from tripping, slipping and falling hazards on walking and working surfaces. A public hearing on the revised changes will be held after the public comment period for the NPRM.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $1.8 million grant to assist around 450 workers affected by layoffs at Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. and Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. in western Montana.

"Montana's timber and wood products industry saw a marked downturn during the recent recession," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Today's grant will help these workers enter training that will allow them to compete for and find jobs in new and emerging industries."

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia has ruled in MSHA's favor in a recent challenge to the agency's decision to conduct private interviews as part of its investigation of the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion.