|
Release Date: 10/11/2002
Release Number: 02-210
Contact Name: Rita Ford
Phone Number: 202.693.8671
|
Printer
Friendly Version
|
|
Atlanta, Georgia - The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a
temporary restraining order on October 8, freezing the assets of the Juno Beach,
Florida-based Service
and Business Workers of America Local 125 Benefit Fund, the Service and Business Workers of America
Local 125, affiliated service firms and plan Trustees. The department’s action is aimed at
preventing further depletion of the health plan’s assets, after more
than 2,000 participants nationwide were left with $10-to-$12 million in unpaid
health and medical claims. |
Under the temporary restraining order, the court also
appointed Jeanne Barnes Bryant, Esq., as an independent fiduciary to manage the
plan and removed the defendants from their positions with the plan. |
Named as defendants are the union local, trustees Harold
Briglio, Timothy J. Traynor, Brad A. Barber, Charles Schleider, William
Atkinhead, Ivy Trosclair, and
Anthony Fasullo. Other defendants are the Illinois Association of Commerce
and Industry, Inc.(IACI), DataPro, LLC, and their respective owners James
Sammons and Matthew Kittock. Briglio also is president of Local 125. |
Local 125, which the department alleges is not a legitimate
union, sponsors the self-insured multiple employer welfare arrangement for
approximately 2,725 participants. The department alleges that Briglio
created Local 125 for the sole purpose of marketing the plan to employers. |
The Labor Department’s lawsuit alleges that the
defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by
failing to maintain sufficient reserves to pay health claims and to preserve the
solvency of the plan. The trustees allegedly diverted millions of dollars
of employer and participant contributions to pay commissions to IACI,
DataPro and Local 125, as well as the salary of Briglio. |
The suit seeks to restore all losses with interest suffered
by the plan, to permanently remove the defendants from their positions with the
plan, to permanently bar them from serving plans governed by ERISA and to
appoint a successor fiduciary to operate the plan. A hearing on a
preliminary injunction is set for October 28. |
The suit, filed in federal district court in West Palm
Beach, Florida, resulted from an investigation conducted by the Atlanta regional
office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (EBSA)
into alleged violations of ERISA. |
Employers and workers can contact the Atlanta regional
office at 404.562.2156 or EBSA’s Toll-Free Employee & Employer Hotline number,
1.866.275.7922, for
help with problems relating to private-sector pension and health plans. |
(Chao v. Service and Business Workers of America Local 125
Civil Action No. 02-80945)
|
U.S. Department of Labor
news releases are accessible on the Internet. The information in this news
release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large
print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive
Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing
your request. Call 202.693.7773 or TTY 202.693.7755. |
| |
|