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Release Date: October 8, 2008
Release Number: 08-901-DEN
Contact Name: Rich Kulczewski
Phone Number: 303.844.1302

U.S. Department of Labor obtains consent decree appointing independent fiduciary of 401(k) plan of defunct Colorado company

Denver – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order appointing Midwest Fiduciary Services to serve as the independent fiduciary of the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Absolute Control Systems Inc. in Golden, Colorado.

The company and its president, Eliot J. Cook, allegedly failed to properly terminate the plan and distribute its assets to eligible participants and beneficiaries after the company ceased operations in May 2005. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires employee benefit plans to be managed by named fiduciaries. In the absence of an active trustee, plan participants and beneficiaries cannot obtain plan information or access accounts to make investments or collect retirement benefits.

Absolute Control Systems was in the business of designing and fabricating custom glove boxes and enclosures. As of November 1, 2007, the plan had 17 participants and $150,601.51 in assets, the latest data available. American United Life Insurance Co. is the custodian of the plan’s assets.

“When an employee benefit plan is abandoned, so are the workers who invested in it,” said Steve Eischen, director of the Kansas City Regional Office of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). “We took this legal action so the plan will be properly managed and its participants can access the funds that rightly belong to them.”

The legal action resulted from an investigation by EBSA’s Kansas City office. Employers and workers can contact the office at 816.285.1800 or EBSA’s toll-free number, 866.444.3272, for help with problems relating to private sector pension and health plans.

In 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. Absolute Control Systems Inc. 401(k) Plan
Civil Action Number 08-cv-01674-EWN

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