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Release Date: January 2, 2009
Release Number: 08-1769-DAL
Contact Name: Diana Petterson/Elizabeth Todd
Phone Number: 972.850.4709/972.850.4710
St. Amant, Louisiana – The U.S. Department
of Labor has sued to appoint an independent fiduciary to manage the
Highland Fabricators Inc. 401 (k) Plan in St. Amant and distribute
$85,981 in assets to 38 participants of the abandoned 401(k) plan. The
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) requires plans be
managed by a named plan fiduciary.
“The department helps workers get their benefits
when plan assets are either misused or plans are abandoned,” said
Roger Hilburn, director of the department’s Dallas Regional Office of
the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), which investigated
the case.
The department’s suit seeks to appoint an
independent fiduciary to administer the orphaned retirement plan,
implement an orderly termination of the plan and pay the plan assets to
its participants.
Pipeworks Reserve Inc., the defunct pipe and fitting
manufacturer that sponsored the 401(k) plan, ceased operations around
May 20, 2005. The department contends no one appears to have
administered the retirement plan since that time.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle
District of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, resulted from an investigation
conducted by EBSA’s Dallas Regional Office. Employers and workers can
reach the Dallas office at 972.850.4500 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.
Chao v. Highland Fabricators Inc. 401 (k) Plan
Civil Action Number: 3:08-cv-838
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