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Release Date: 01/30/2001
Release Number: 014
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: 617.565.2075
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Raymond Turcotte, the president and owner of the now
defunct Quantum Electric, Inc., of South Hadley, Massachusetts, has agreed
to pay to the participants of his company’s pension plan over $66,000 in
contributions (including interest) which the company failed to pay into
the plan over the past three years, the U.S. Labor Department announced
today. |
According to James Benages, Boston Regional Director
for the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA),
the agreement is part of a consent judgment and order obtained as the
result of a lawsuit filed by his agency against Quantum Electric, Inc. and
Raymond Turcotte. |
The suit alleged that the company was the sponsor of
the Quantum Electric Prevailing Wage Pension Plan established in 1994, and
that the company and Turcotte were fiduciaries with respect to the Plan.
The suit charged that the defendants failed to ensure that at least
$58,733.50 in contributions for the year 1998 were paid to the Plan on
behalf of its participants, who were employees of Quantum Electric. The
suit also alleged that the defendants handled funds of the Plan without
obtaining a fidelity bond. These were alleged violations of the federal
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which protects employee
pension and welfare benefit plans and which is administered by PWBA. |
The consent judgment and order, signed by U.S. District
Judge Frank Freedman on January 11, 2001 permanently prohibits Quantum
Electric from acting as a plan administrator to any ERISA-covered plan. It
also prohibits Raymond Turcotte from ever again acting as a fiduciary or
service provider to any ERISA-covered plan. The order also requires
Turcotte to pay a total of $66,451.53 (plus interest until the judgment is
satisfied) to the participants of the Quantum Electric Prevailing Wage
Pension Plan. The judgment allows Turcotte to make the payment in
installments into an independently administered interest-bearing account
over a period of years. |
Benages noted that Quantum was an electrical contractor
which had worked on various prevailing wage federal, state and
municipal contracts. Consequently, the company’s employees working on
those contracts were due fringe benefits under both federal and state
prevailing wage laws. The pension plan had been established to provide
those fringe benefits. The company is no longer in business. |
The department’s legal action against the defendants
followed an investigation by the Boston Regional Office of the Pension and
Welfare Benefits Administration. That office is located in Room 575 of the
John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston. The telephone number is 617.565.9600. |
(Herman v Quantum Electric, Inc., and Raymond Turcotte
Civil Action No. 01-30005-FHF) |
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 202.693.7775. |