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Release Date: February 2, 2009
Release Number: 08-1836-BOS/BOS 2009-028
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: 617.565.2075
Boston – The U.S. Department of Labor has
obtained a settlement agreement filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the District Court of Massachusetts, providing for payment of nearly
$115,000 in unpaid employee health claims of bankrupt Wolverine Proctor
& Schwartz LLC, formerly of Merrimac, Massachusetts. After filing
for bankruptcy, the company abandoned its employee health benefit plans,
leaving 79 employees with significant unpaid health care costs.
The settlement agreement requires the bankruptcy
trustee to make restitution out of Wolverine’s bankruptcy estate to
the health plan funds administered by Benefit Plan Management Inc. (BPM).
BPM also currently holds two bank accounts containing assets of the
health plans, which the department previously took action to protect.
BPM will use the $114,867 available from the bankruptcy settlement and
plan accounts to pay in full the outstanding medical and dental claims
of the former employees of Wolverine Proctor & Schwartz.
The company, formerly located at 51 E. Main St.,
manufactured commercial ovens and other equipment. On April 1, 2006,
Wolverine entered into voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy. At the time,
Wolverine had approximately 200 employees with 119 participants in the
company’s self-funded health plans. Those health plans provided
medical and dental benefits to the workers and their family members.
This case was investigated by the Labor
Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) regional
office in Boston. “Even when a plan fiduciary declares bankruptcy, the
department will act to recoup as much money as possible for workers who
are left with unpaid medical claims,” said Alan D. Lebowitz, acting
assistant secretary of EBSA. “We are pleased that the bankruptcy court
affirmed the priority rights of former employees and paid in full the
medical claims incurred.”
Workers and employers can contact EBSA’s Boston
Regional Office at 617.565.9600 or toll-free at 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 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.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court v. Wolverine Procter &
Schwartz
Docket Number 06-10815 JF - Chapter 7
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