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Release Date: January 22, 2009
Release Number: 08-1121-ATL (028)
Contact Name: Michael Wald
Phone Number: 404.562.2078
Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has
obtained a default judgment in federal district court in Atlanta
ordering Concrete Construction Co. of Acworth, Georgia, and its
president, Craig Wagner, to restore $11,672 due to the failure of the
defendants to prudently manage the funds, to the company’s 401 (k)
retirement savings plan. The payment is comprised of delinquent employee
contributions, uncollected employer matching contributions, and lost
earnings on the employee contributions.
“We are pleased that the federal court in Atlanta
has ordered the company and its president to restore funds that
employees are counting on for their retirement,” said R.C. Marshall,
regional director of the department’s Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA) office in Atlanta, which investigated this case.
The judgment results from a Labor Department lawsuit
alleging that the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA) when they withheld employee contributions to the
plan and illegally co-mingled the contributions with the general assets
of the company between March and August 2003. The defendants allegedly
failed to remit matching employer contributions to the plan from March
to December 2003.
Besides restitution to the plan, the order appoints
M. Larry Lefoldt as independent fiduciary to oversee the plan, removes
the defendants as plan fiduciaries, and bars them from serving as
fiduciaries of any employee benefit plan covered by ERISA.
Concrete Construction, which ceased operations in
2005, prepared sites for the installation of utilities.
Employers with similar problems who are not yet
subjects of EBSA investigations may be eligible to participate in the
department’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program. Participation
requires employers to make workers whole but allows them to avoid EBSA
enforcement actions and civil penalties as well as any applicable excise
taxes. For more information, see www.dol.gov/ebsa.
This case resulted from an investigation conducted by
EBSA’s office in Atlanta. Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s
Atlanta Regional Office at 404.302.3900 or toll-free at 866.444.3272 for
help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health
plans. In fiscal year 2008, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.2
billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for
millions of American workers and their families.
Chao v. Concrete Construction Inc.
Civil Action Number 1:07-cv-01259-JOF
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