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Release Date: February 24, 2009
Release Number: 09-177-SEA (09-16)
Contact Name: Jeannine Lupton
Phone Number: 206.553.7620
Seattle – The U.S. Department of Labor has
sued Seatoma Convalescent Center of Des Moines, Washington, to give
workers access to nearly $14,000 in profit-sharing trust assets. The
nursing home facility allegedly failed to fulfill its fiduciary duties
to participants covered by the plan.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Washington, alleges that the company failed to take
sufficient steps to provide for the prudent and complete termination of
its 401(k) plan after the company ceased operations.
The suit asks the court to appoint an independent
fiduciary to administer the plan in order to complete the termination
and distribution of plan assets to participants and beneficiaries.
“Abandoning the plan results in abandoning the
workers who invested in it,” said Billy Beaver, regional director in
San Francisco for the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA), whose Seattle District Office investigated the
case. “We took this legal action so the plan participants can access
their retirement funds.”
The Labor Department has issued rules to facilitate a
voluntary, safe and efficient process for terminating businesses of
abandoned plans. The rules allow financial institutions holding assets
of abandoned plans to take responsibility and distribute the assets to
affected workers and their families. In cases where the involved
financial institutions decline that role, an independent fiduciary can
be appointed to finalize the plan’s business. The department estimates
that 1,650 such plans are abandoned each year. Information about the
rules is available under the Abandoned Plan Program section of EBSA’s
Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa.
Employers and workers can contact the agency’s
Seattle office at 206.553.4244 or EBSA’s toll-free number,
866.444.3272, for help with problems relating to private sector pension
and health plans.
In fiscal year 2008, EBSA achieved monetary results
of $1.2 billion related to the pension, 401(k), health and other
benefits for millions of American workers and their families.
Secretary of Labor v. Seatoma Convalescent Center
Inc.
Civil Action Number 2:09-CV-00227-JLR
U.S. Department of Labor news releases are accessible on the
Department's Newsroom
page. The information in this news release will be made available
in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or
disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when
placing your request at 202.693.7828 or TTY 202.693.7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America's employers and
employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply
with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit the
Department's Compliance
Assistance page.
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