July 13, 2005

Media Advisory - HIPAA and Other Health Laws: Mississippi Compliance Assistance Seminar

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Jackson, Mississippi - The Compliance Assistance Seminar sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Mississippi Department of Insurance, will take place August 17-18, 2005 in Jackson, Mississippi at the Edison Walthall Hotel, 225 East Capitol Street.

July 11, 2005

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Announces $356.25 Million Bankruptcy Claim for Enron Retirement Plans

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced an agreement giving the Enron 401(k) and employee stock ownership (ESOP) plans a general unsecured claim of $305.36 million in Enron's bankruptcy. The proposed settlement also gives Enron's cash balance plan a claim of $50.89 million.

July 8, 2005

Labor Department Sues Minnesota Company Executives To Protect 401(k) Employee Contributions

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Minneapolis, Minnesota - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Granse & Associates Inc., Lakeville, Minnesota, and its trustees for failing to forward contributions withheld from employees’ paychecks to the company’s 401(k) profit sharing plan. The money was used for operating expenses and remains commingled with the company’s general assets.

June 30, 2005

U.S. Labor Department Obtains Court Order Restoring Over $700,000 to Maryland Engineering Firm’s Retirement Plans

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order requiring Information Systems and Networks (ISN), Bethesda, Maryland, and its president to pay more than $700,000 to the firm’s pension and profit sharing plans. The payment is restitution for contributions the employer failed to make from 1995 through 2003.

June 28, 2005

U.S. Department of Labor Announces More Than $28 Million For States to Plan for BRAC Transitions

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that more than $28 million in National Emergency Grant (NEG) funds has been awarded to 35 states, the District of Columbia and Guam, each of which could be affected by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations.

June 28, 2005

Labor Department Sponsors Free Bay Area Workshop on Federal Pension Law

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

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor will hold a free workshop to help employers and pension plan administrators comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the federal law that governs private-sector pension and health benefit plans for employees. The workshop will be held July 19 at the Ronald Dellums Federal Building, 1301 Clay St., Oakland, Calif.

June 23, 2005

U.S. Labor Department Halts Rockville, Md., Companies From Administering Benefit Plans Nationwide

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

CORRECTION TO THIS RELEASE (July 1, 2005) Company owner Dennis Kelly has been removed from the first paragraph.

This action did not freeze his assets, only those assets of Plan 3 Inc. and Plan 3 Technologies.

U.S. Labor Department Halts Rockville, Md., Companies From Administering Benefit Plans Nationwide

June 22, 2005

Department of Labor Finds Tennessee Doctor Guilty Of
Violating Temporary Foreign Worker Visa Program

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB) has ruled that 17 physicians, hired to work in rural Tennessee clinics under the Immigration and Nationality Act's H-1B visa program, are due over $1 million in back wages. The ARB also upheld the assessment of over $100,000 in civil money penalties for willful violations of the law.

June 22, 2005

U.S. Labor Department Sues Miami Corporation to Restore Employee Contributions to Abandoned 401(k) Plan

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

Miami, Florida - The U.S. Department of Labor sued Miami, Florida-based ETF Technologies Inc. and its president for failing to deposit and timely forward employee contributions and loan repayments to the company’s 401(k) plan. The suit also seeks to appoint a successor to manage the plan, which has been without oversight since the company ceased doing business.

June 22, 2005

Chicago Businessman Ordered to Restore More Than $625,000 To Workers’ Profit Sharing Plan

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

Chicago, Illinois - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement requiring the president of Chicago Spectro Service Laboratory Inc., Oak Park, Illinois, to restore $626,215.20 to the company’s profit sharing plan.

June 22, 2005

Albuquerque Printing Company to Restore More Than $150,000 to Profit Sharing Plan

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

Albuquerque, New Mexico - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring Albuquerque-based Universal Printing & Publishing Inc. to restore $155,622 to its profit sharing plan as restitution for an improper loan made to the company by the plan. The order also permanently bars two company officials from service to employee benefit plans in the future.

June 21, 2005

Secretary Chao Announces 2005 National Disability Employment Awareness Month ThemeWorkers with Disabilities: Ready for Tomorrows Jobs Today

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao this week announced the official theme for October's National Disability Employment Awareness Month — Workers with Disabilities: Ready for Tomorrow's Jobs Today.

June 21, 2005

Labor Department Obtains Court Judgment Restoring More Than $12,900 to 401(k) Plan of Illinois Home Builder

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

Chicago, Illinois - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court judgment requiring Lord & Essex Homes Inc., an Aurora, Illinois, home builder, and the trustee of the company’s 401(k) plan to restore $12,907.33 as restitution for failure to forward employee contributions and loan repayments to the plan.

June 20, 2005

Settlement Restores Funds to Fort Wayne, Indiana, 401(k) Plan

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

Fort Wayne, Indiana - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a settlement requiring CCS Inc. to restore $29,362.45 to its 401(k) plan. The consent order also permanently bars two of the Fort Wayne company’s plan trustees from serving as fiduciaries to employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

June 20, 2005

ERISA Advisory Council Sets July 2005 Meetings

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

WASHINGTON – The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans and its three working groups will meet July 6-8 at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C.

June 15, 2005

Dallas Audio/Video Producers Sued To Restore Delinquent Employee Contributions to Pension Fund

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

Dallas, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued executives of defunct Intelecon Services Inc., Dallas, Texas, to recover delinquent employee contributions and loan repayments owed to the 401(k) plan.

June 13, 2005

Labor Department Program Places More Than 300 Students, Graduates with Disabilities in Summer Jobs

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Recruitment Program has placed more than 300 qualified college students and recent graduates with disabilities in summer positions. The placements were made using a free database of more than 1,900 candidates seeking summer and full-time employment. The database was distributed on a CD-Rom beginning March 16.

June 13, 2005

Labor Department Sues to Appoint Independent Fiduciary For Abandoned Retirement Plan

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

Boston, Massachusetts - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Lauriat’s Incorporated, a former Boston-area bookstore chain, to obtain court appointment of an independent fiduciary to manage the defunct company’s abandoned retirement plan. The suit was filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

June 10, 2005

Labor Department Testifies on Enforcement of Employee Benefits Law

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