|
|
|
|
|
Release Date: 03/30/1998
Release Number: USDL:
V-84
Contact Name: GLORIA DELLA
Phone Number: 202.219.8931 |
|
|
|
The U. S. Department of Labor today sued
executives of Brewster Dairy, Inc., in Brewster, Ohio, for imprudently
investing more than $1 million of the company’s 401(k) profit sharing plan
assets in a real estate limited partnership. |
|
Brewster Dairy is a manufacturer of cheese and
other dairy byproducts. The 401(k) plan, which covered 194 employees, had
$10,440,119 in assets as of March 1996. |
|
The Labor Department lawsuit charges the dairy,
co-owners Fritz Leeman and Walter Leeman, and vice president of finance Thomas
Riegler with violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The
defendants also served as members of the plan’s investment
committee. |
|
According to the lawsuit, the defendants committed
the plan to pay $1,031,115 to purchase units in the Heartland California
Clayton Limited Partnership. The plan has invested $749,462.50 in the
partnership over the period December 1990 to February 1996. The limited
partnership is invested in a parcel of property located in the San Franciso Bay
Area. Brewster Dairy is charged with failing to take steps to remedy the
improper actions of the plan committee members. |
|
The lawsuit seeks a court order to require that
the defendants reimburse the plan for any losses resulting from the investments
and to permanently bar them from violating ERISA in the future. The lawsuit was
filed on March 30 in federal district court in Cleveland, Ohio. |
|
The case resulted from an investigation conducted
by the Cincinnati Regional Office of the Labor Department’s Pension and
Welfare Benefits Administration into alleged violations of ERISA. |
|
(Herman v. Brewster Dairy, Inc.)
Civil
Action No. 5:98cv744 |
|
U.S. Department of
Labor news releases are accessible on the Internet. The information in this
news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large
print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive
Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing your
request. Call 202.693.7773 or TTY 202.693.7755. |
|
|
