Date of Action:          May 25, 2023 

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act consent order and judgment

Company/Owners:    Chicago Metropolitan Obstetricians and Gynecologists Ltd.

Dr. Ernest Hayes

CHICAGO – Health plan participants, employers and medical providers harmed by a multiple employer welfare arrangement, or “MEWA” operating in 36 states will begin to finally receive payments related to more than $54 million in unpaid health claims after a federal court’s action, prompted by litigation and investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2023-01 with frequently asked questions on the annual funding notice requirements for multiemployer pension plans that received special financial assistance under the American Rescue Plan Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a settlement with the Prudential Insurance Company of America — a subsidiary of Prudential Financial Inc. — that will require the financial giant to revise its practices after a federal investigation found the Newark, New Jersey-based company collected life insurance premiums from participants for extended periods, but then denied numerous claims after the participants died, citing the participants’ failure to provide evidence of insurability when they applied for insurance.

Date of Action:          April 10, 2023

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act consent order and judgment

Company/Owners:    Fred Vargason

Nissan of St. Charles

Nissan of St. Charles Simple IRA Plan

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration will reopen the public comment period on the proposed amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 – also known as the Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption – until April 6, 2023, to gather additional comments.

Date of Action:          March 7, 2023

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act default judgment

Company/Owners:    Gary Krieger, Stratagem Inc., Stratagem Inc. Group Medical Insurance Plan

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the appointment of five members and leadership for the 2023 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council.

The 15-member council provides advice on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

LOUISVILLE, KY – A federal court in Kentucky has sentenced the co-founder of several phony medical clinics in Louisville and Atlanta, who pleaded guilty to one felony count, after the U.S. Department of Labor found the operators collected $258,000 from 15 self-funded healthcare benefit programs for services they never provided.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor, the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation today released Federal Register notices that announce changes to the 2023 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan and Form 5500-SF Short Form. These changes are estimated to reduce overall filing costs for employee benefit plans by $95 million annually.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Employee Benefits Security Administration will reopen the public comment period on amendments to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program and the proposed amendment to the associated class Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2002-51.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with the fiduciaries of an Auburn, Maine, employee stock ownership plan to recover $6.3 million for the plan’s participants and resolve alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that enforcement and compliance actions by its Employee Benefits Security Administration recovered more than $1.4 billion for retirement, health and welfare benefits plans, participants and beneficiaries in fiscal year 2022.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the IRS, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule that allows plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when they select retirement investments and exercise shareholder rights, such as proxy voting.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration has proposed updates to its Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, including a self-correction component for employers who fail to send employee salary withholding contributions or participant loan repayments to retirement plans in a timely manner. 

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor issued the following statement on today’s sentencing of George Laufenberg, former plan administrator of the Northeast Carpenters Benefit Funds, who pleaded guilty on June 3, 2022, to embezzling approximately $140,000 and making false statements to the department.

ATLANTA – A federal court judge has ordered TPP Holdings Inc., an Atlanta architecture and interior design firm operating as The Preston Partnership, LLC, and its CEO, Robert N. Preston, to restore $540,658 to TPP’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Date of Action:                      Oct. 20, 2022

Type of Action:                     Employee Retirement Income Security Act judgment

Company/Officers:               David Rine and Julieta Mitra

Date of Action:          Oct. 11, 2022

Type of Action:         Employee Retirement Income Security Act consent judgement

Company/Owners:    Paramount Industrial Machining Inc., Maxwell Schwartz, Sheila Rossmann