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Release Date: March 26, 2008
Release Number: 08-388-PHI (ebsa 08-044)
Contact Name: Leni Fortson
Phone Number: 215.861.5102
Telford, Pennsylvania – The U.S. Department
of Labor has obtained a default judgment appointing an independent
fiduciary to terminate the 401(k) plan of defunct Telford company
Keystone Contractors Inc. and distribute plan assets to participants and
beneficiaries.
As of July 2007, the plan had 18 participants and
approximately $27,051 in assets, the latest data available.
“When companies abandon retirement plans, they also
abandon the workers who invested in their plans,” said Mabel Capolongo,
director of the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration
(EBSA) Philadelphia Regional Office. “We took this action to ensure
that these participants have access to their hard-earned retirement
funds.”
The judgment resulted from a lawsuit filed by the
Labor Department in November 2007 alleging that Keystone Contractors
Inc. and trustee Donald Stauffer Jr. had violated the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The suit charged that after the
company ceased operations in 2003, the fiduciaries failed to terminate
the plan and distribute its assets. As a result, plan participants and
beneficiaries were unable to access their individual account balances.
The department’s legal action resulted from an
investigation conducted by EBSA’s Philadelphia Regional Office.
Employers and workers can contact that office at 215.861.5300 or
toll-free at 866.444.3272 for help with problems relating to private
sector pension and health plans.
In fiscal year 2007, EBSA achieved monetary results
of $1.5 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits
for millions of American workers and their families.
Chao v. Keystone Contractors Inc.
Civil Action Number 2:07-cv-04835-JP
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