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Atlanta, Georgia - The U.S. Department of Labor
has obtained a consent judgment ordering payment of $1 million in
restitution to the California-based International Union of Industrial and
Independent Workers Benefit Fund (IUIIW). The fund was placed under the
receivership of Jeanne Bryant in Brentwood, Tennessee.
“We are pleased that the court has agreed to order
the plan managers to pay a million dollars to fund the health benefits of
these union workers,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.
“Workers and their families depend upon these health benefits and we
want to make sure they are there when they need them.”
In addition, separate court orders bar plan
administrator Oak Tree Administrators (OTA) and Cherille Shelp, former
owner and president of OTA, from future service as a fiduciary to plans
covered by federal benefits law.
Under a previous court order, the fund’s trustees
were required to pay $840,000 in restitution to the fund and to pay civil
penalties to the federal government. The trustees were also barred from
serving as plan fiduciaries.
In its original lawsuit, filed April 2004, the Labor
Department alleged that OTA violated its fiduciary duties under the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The organization’s improper
actions allegedly resulted in several million dollars in unpaid health
claims. Trustees named in the suit included Geoffrey J. Beltz, David
Wright, Jimmy Miller and Henry Solowiej.
The fund, which purported to be a union-sponsored
benefit plan, was marketed to employers and individuals in Texas, Georgia,
Oklahoma, California and many other states. Several states, including
Oklahoma and Georgia, ordered the fund’s operators to stop all
insurance-related activities.
The consent order was entered in federal district court
in Atlanta. The Atlanta regional office of the department’s Employee
Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) investigated the case. Employers
and workers can reach the Atlanta regional office at 404.562.2156, or EBSA
toll-free at 1.866.444.EBSA (3272), for help with problems relating to
private-sector retirement and health plans. Tips on purchasing health
benefits may be found at EBSA’s Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fshlthinstips.html.
(Chao v. International Union of Industrial and
Independent Workers)
Civil Action No. 1:04-CV-0934-BBM |
