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Release Date: July 16, 2007
Release Number: 07-927-ATL (172)
Contact Name: Dan Fuqua/Michael Wald
Phone Number: 404.562.2078/404.562.2076
Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has
sued to restore more than $17,300 in assets to the 401(k) plan of S
& M Holdings, a former Birmingham, Alabama, auto parts and services
company.
“Trustees of a 401(k) plan have a responsibility to
ensure that the assets of the plan are used solely to benefit
participants,” said Howard Marsh, director of the department’s
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Atlanta Regional
Office.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, the suit
alleges that the company and Robert D. Sandusky, the plan’s trustee,
violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) between
January 2002 and April 2004. The defendants allegedly failed to remit
employee contributions to the 401(k) plan.
The suit seeks a court order requiring the defendants
to restore $17,353, plus interest and lost earnings, to the plan. The
department is also asking the court to bar Sandusky from future service
as a fiduciary to ERISA plans and appoint a successor fiduciary to
manage the plan and distribute its assets to eligible participants.
S & M Holdings ceased operations in January 2005.
The company’s 401(k) plan had 54 participants and assets of more than
$492,500 as of June 2004, the latest data available.
Employers with similar problems who are not yet
subjects of EBSA investigations may be eligible to participate in the
department’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program. Participation
requires employers to make workers whole but allows them to avoid EBSA
enforcement actions and civil penalties as well as any applicable excise
taxes. For more information, see www.dol.gov/ebsa.
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 can contact the agency’s Atlanta Regional Office at
404.302.3900 or toll-free at 1.866.444.EBSA (3272) for help with
problems relating to private sector pension and health plans.
Chao vs. S & M Holdings Inc.
Civil Action File Number: 2:07-cv-01084-IPJ
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