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Release Date: August 6, 2007
Release Number: 07-1121-CHI
Contact Name: Brad Mitchell
Phone Number: 312.353.6976
Port Huron, Michigan – The U.S. Department
of Labor has sued Leslie H. Smith and Cheryl Wilson, officers of Smith
Die & Mold Inc., Port Huron, for failing to remit employee
contributions to the company-sponsored 401(k) plan and co-mingling those
funds, deducted from employees’ paychecks, with company funds.
“The Labor Department will act when plan
fiduciaries fail to carry out their duty to protect the retirement plan
assets held on behalf of participants,” said Joseph Menez, director of
the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration’s (EBSA)
Cincinnati Regional Office.
The lawsuit alleges that Smith and Wilson,
fiduciaries of the plan and president and vice-president of the company,
violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to remit
and segregate employee contributions owed to the plan.
The suit seeks to require that all contributions plus
interest be restored to the 401(k) accounts and to remove the defendants
as plan fiduciaries. The suit also seeks to appoint an independent
fiduciary to manage the plan, terminate it and distribute assets to
eligible participants and beneficiaries.
Employers with similar problems who are not yet the
subjects of EBSA investigations may be eligible to participate in the
department’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP).
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.
Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s Cincinnati
Regional Office at 859.578.4680 or toll-free at 1.866.444.EBSA (3272)
for help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health
plans. 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.
Chao v. Smith
Civil Action Number 2:07-cv-13231
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page. The information in this news release will be made available
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placing your request at 202.693.7828 or TTY 202.693.7755. The U.S.
Department of Labor is committed to providing America's employers and
employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply
with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit the
Department's Compliance
Assistance page.
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