Judge orders executive of Ohio-based Three Rivers Option Care to repay more than $78,000 to employee SIMPLE IRA plan after US Labor Department investigation

COSHOCTON, Ohio – A federal district court in Columbus, Ohio, has entered a consent order and judgment requiring Barbara Elise Miller, an executive of Three Rivers Option Care in Coshocton, to repay $78,562.81 in employee contributions and lost opportunity costs to the participants and beneficiaries of the company’s savings investment match plan for employees individual retirement account plan. The judgment follows an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

“The Labor Department will continue to help workers get their benefits when plan assets are misused,” said Paul Baumann, director of the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration Cincinnati Regional Office, which investigated the case.

The judgment requires Miller to restore the voluntary employee contributions withheld from employees’ wages from August 2005 through January 2009, plus lost interest owed to the plan. This amount totaled $78,562.81. Miller also is permanently barred from serving as a fiduciary or service provider to any ERISA-covered employee benefit plan in the future.

As of Oct. 12, 2010, the plan had 11 participants.

Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s Cincinnati office at 859-578-4680 or toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems related to private sector retirement and health plans. In fiscal year 2009, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.3 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American workers and their families. Additional information can be found at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Secretary of Labor v. Barbara Elise Miller, Three Rivers Option Care SIMPLE IRA
Civil Action Number: 09-742