OLMS exceeds 900 indictments since 2001

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) today announced its criminal enforcement data for March 2008. During the month, OLMS obtained four convictions, five indictments and court orders of restitution totaling $279,202. The office's totals for fiscal year 2008 (which began on Oct. 1, 2007) now stand at 52 convictions and 64 indictments. The bulk of the cases involved the embezzlement of union funds.

DENVER — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to recover $1,094,486 in back wages for 302 Denver-area employees of Aggregate Industries, WRE Inc., a subsidiary of Bardon US Corp. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Denver, resulted from an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

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Hartford, Connecticut – The U.S. Department of Labor has succeeded in obtaining a federal court order prohibiting the third party administrators to the retirement plans of Wasley Products Inc. in Plainville, Connecticut, from serving as fiduciaries to any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the future.

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Fenton, Michigan – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner and 401(k) plan fiduciary of Control Pak International Inc. in Fenton for improperly using 401(k) assets withheld from employees’ pay to benefit the company in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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Troy, Michigan – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment in federal district court in Detroit ordering the appointment of an independent fiduciary to terminate the 401(k) plan of Troy-based Q.E.D. Inc. and distribute its assets to participants.

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Buffalo, New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York to appoint an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of Pohlman Foundry Co. Inc. of Buffalo, New York.

DALLAS — Dallas-based Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. has entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to settle allegations of hiring discrimination based on race and gender and agreed to a settlement of $1.5 million.

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Chicago — The U.S. Department of Labor today sued Chicago-based AA Capital Partners Inc. and its executives for improperly causing more than $25 million in losses for five Michigan pension funds by misusing plan assets to benefit themselves and by charging the plans excessive investment management fees. The Labor Department’s suit seeks to restore all losses incurred by the plans as a result of the defendants’ improper actions.

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Washington – The first 2008 meeting of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council, will be held May 6 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. EDT in the Secretary’s Conference Room, Room S-2508, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. in Washington.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor will visit Livermore, Calif., to provide information about the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). Through town hall meetings, officials will present details about a new class of former employees of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently added to the act's Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). Officials also will be on hand to discuss Parts B and E of the EEOICPA and assist individuals with filing claims.

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Washington – U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced the appointment of five new members to and new leadership for the 2008 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council.

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Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor today released a new online video to help small employers and accountants understand the various options for providing a retirement program for their employees. “Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business” introduces employers to the three most popular retirement arrangements.

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Montpelier, Vermont – “Healthy, Wealthy and Wise?,” a free half-day conference to help Vermont women identify and secure their health, pension and workplace rights, will be held Monday, April 28, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Conference Center at 100 State Street in Montpelier.

WASHINGTON — A newly designed version of the U.S. Social Security Administration's (SSA) online Benefit Eligibility Screening Tool (BEST) application, powered by the U.S. Department of Labor-managed GovBenefits.gov, has been launched to make it easier for individuals to determine their eligibility for 17 different Social Security programs.

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Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued two officers of the Georgia Plumbers Trade Association (GPTA) in Griffin, Georgia, for failing to oversee, monitor and control the assets of the Georgia Plumbers Trade Association Health Plan in violation of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for South Carolina ordering Associated Technical Training Services Inc. (ATTSI) and plan fiduciaries to restore $1,523,227 to the company’s 401(k) profit-sharing plan.

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San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits and Security Administration (EBSA) will hold free, half-day workshops in San Francisco on April 21, at 9:30 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m. PDT, to help employers, the employee benefit community and others better comply with federal pension law. The workshops will be held at the San Francisco Federal Building, 90-7th Street, Auditorium-Room B-020.

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Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued two officers of the Georgia Plumbers Trade Association (GPTA) in Griffin, Georgia, for failing to oversee, monitor and control the assets of the Georgia Plumbers Trade Association Health Plan in violation of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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Hartford, Connecticut – American Air Tool Enterprises LLC of Centerbrook, Connecticut, and Scott Saunders, trustee to the company’s 401(k) plan, have agreed to restore $18,286.51 plus interest to the plan to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

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

Atlanta – A free health law compliance assistance seminar for employers, plan fiduciaries and plan service providers, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, will take place April 30 to May 1 at The Mulberry Inn, 601 East Bay Street, in Savannah, Georgia.