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Release Date: November 5, 2007
Release Number: 07-1706-CHI
Contact Name: Brad Mitchell/Scott Allen
Phone Number: 312.353.4807/312.353.6976
Minneapolis – The U.S. Department of Labor
has filed a lawsuit against Allstate Home Mortgage and the Allstate Home
Mortgage 401(k) Plan and Trust in order to replace the plan’s sole
fiduciary with an independent fiduciary to terminate the abandoned plan
and distribute its assets to eligible participants and beneficiaries.
“The Labor Department filed suit so that an
independent fiduciary can be named in order to terminate the plan and
distribute assets to the participants and beneficiaries. The independent
fiduciary also is needed to conclude any matters connected with the
proper termination of the plan,” said Steven R. Eischen, director of
the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
regional office in Kansas City, Missouri, which investigated the case.
The suit, filed in federal district court in
Minneapolis, alleges that Allstate Home Mortgage was the plan
administrator and a fiduciary of the plan. Prior owner David P. Schultz
sold the company to Daniel P. Leaf pursuant to an installment agreement.
However, Leaf died on November 16, 2005, before paying all of the
installment payments. Schultz reopened Allstate Home Mortgage in 2006.
The suit seeks to remove Leaf, who was the only
individual with the authority to distribute the plan’s assets, as plan
fiduciary, and to appoint an independent fiduciary to terminate the plan
and issue distributions to plan participants.
In fiscal year 2006, EBSA achieved monetary results
of $1.4 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits
for millions of American workers and their families. Employers and
workers with questions or concerns regarding their private sector
pension and health plans can contact EBSA’s Kansas City Regional
Office at 816.285.1800 or EBSA toll-free at 1.866.444.EBSA (3272).
Information is also available on the agency’s Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa.
Chao v. Allstate Home Mortgage
Civil Action Number 07-cv-04462
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Department's Newsroom
page. The information in this news release will be made available
in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or
disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news release when
placing your request at 202.693.7828 or TTY 202.693.7755. The U.S.
Department of Labor is committed to providing America's employers and
employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply
with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit the
Department's Compliance
Assistance page.
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