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Release Date: February 25, 2008
Release Number: 08-253-BOS/BOS 2008-050
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: 617.565.2075
Boston – A.J. DesJardins Roofing Co. Inc. of
Exeter, New Hampshire, and its owner have repaid $32,700.83 to the
company’s 401(k) plan to resolve a lawsuit filed by the U.S.
Department of Labor for failure to timely deposit employee contributions
owed to the plan and file reports required under the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA).
The department’s suit, filed in the U.S. District
Court for the District of New Hampshire, alleged that Albeo DesJardins
Jr., owner and president of the company as well as trustee of the plan,
and the company violated ERISA from September 30, 2005, through December
31, 2006. The defendants allegedly withheld from the wages of company
employees contributions to their 401(k) plan accounts but never
transferred that money to the plan.
“Such breaches of fiduciary duty will not be
tolerated,” said James Benages, regional director for the department’s
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in Boston. “The law
requires the assets of employee benefit plans to be used only for the
benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries. Employers cannot
withhold plan contributions from employee paychecks and then use that
money for their own purposes, and this case demonstrates that we will
not hesitate to enforce the law through litigation when necessary.”
This case was investigated by EBSA’s Boston
Regional Office. According to the consent judgment, the defendants
repaid to the plan $32,700.83 as a result of EBSA’s actions. The
judgment orders them to properly distribute the plan’s assets to the
plan’s participants and beneficiaries. In addition, DesJardins must
report evidence of the distributions to the Labor Department, and both
defendants are ordered to properly file and submit all required annual
reports to the department. Thereafter, DesJardins is barred from serving
in a fiduciary capacity to any ERISA-covered plan.
Employers and workers can reach the Boston Regional
Office of EBSA at 617.565.9600 or toll-free at 866.444.3272 for help
with problems relating to private sector retirement 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. Additional information can be found at
www.dol.gov/ebsa.
Chao v. Albeo DesJardins Jr.
Civil Action Number: 08-CV-00012 (SM)
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