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Release Date: August 22, 2006
Release Number: 06-1338-NEW/BOS 2006-228
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: 617.565.2075
Syracuse, New York - The U.S. Department of
Labor has filed suit asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of New York to appoint an independent fiduciary to oversee the
abandoned Azon Employees Retirement Plan.
The plan was sponsored by Azon Corporation of Johnson
City, New York, which ceased operations in July 2002. At that time, the
retirement plan was left without a trustee to manage its assets, as
required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). As a
result, participants and beneficiaries cannot obtain plan information or
access accounts to make investments or collect retirement benefits.
Under the department’s lawsuit, the court-appointed
independent fiduciary would administer the plan, distribute its assets
to plan participants and beneficiaries and oversee the plan’s
termination. As of March, 2006, the plan had 38 participants and
$841,415 in assets. T. Rowe Price is the custodian of the funds.
“When a plan is abandoned, so are the workers who
invested in it,” said James Benages, Boston regional director for the
Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).
“We took this legal action so the plan will be properly administered
and its participants can access the funds that rightly belong to
them.”
The suit resulted from an investigation conducted by
EBSA’s Boston regional office, which has jurisdiction for western New
York. Employers and workers can contact that office at 617.565.9600 or
EBSA’s toll free number, 1.866.444.EBSA (3272), for help with problems
relating to private-sector pension and health plans.
In fiscal year 2005, EBSA achieved monetary results
of $1.7 billion related to the pension, 401(k), health and other
benefits for millions of American workers and their families.
(Chao v Azon Employees Retirement Plan)
Civil Action Number: 3:06-CV-1006
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