US Labor Department files lawsuit to recover employees’ contributions for participants in two Passages Hospice benefit plans

Date of Action: Jan. 17, 2017

Type of Action: Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit

Names of Defendants: Sandor Szajkovics
Passages Hospice LLC
Passages Hospice LLC Dental Plan, Passages Hospice LLC Employee Benefits Plan

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration found that Szajkovics, the chief financial officer for Passages Hospice LLC, and the company violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The investigation found that – from Jan. 10 to Feb. 7, 2014 – Szajkovics caused Passages Hospice LLC to withhold $15,428 in employee salary reduction contributions intended for the Passages Hospice LLC Dental Plan. The funds were retained in the company’s general fund and used to pay corporate expenses.

Additionally, from Jan. 24 to Feb. 7, 2014, Szajkovics caused Passages to withhold $44,826 in employee salary reduction contributions intended for the company’s Health Plan. Those funds were also retained in the company’s general fund and used to pay corporate expenses.

Resolution: The complaint seeks a judgment:

• Removing Szajkovics from any position as a fiduciary to the Passages Hospice employee benefit plans and enjoining him permanently from violating the provisions of ERISA and serving as a fiduciary in the future.
• Ordering Szajkovics and Passages to correct the prohibited transactions and restore to the plans all losses, including lost opportunity costs, resulting from fiduciary breaches for which they are liable.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division (Lisle)

Docket Number: 1:17-cv-00340