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Release Date: 07/02/2001
Release Number: 761
Contact Name: Deanne Amaden
Phone Number: 415.975.4742
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San Francisco, California - The U.S. District
Court in San Jose has replaced the manager of a South Bay company’s
401(k) profit sharing plan, giving former workers access to their pension
plan which was abandoned three years ago. |
Some 33 former employees of Management Resource
Associates, LLC, a Silicon Valley firm which leased employees to the
semi-conductor industry, will be able to access funds in the Management
Resource Associates 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan. The judgment will allow
plan participants to roll their funds over into a new plan or to make
other distributions for the first time since the company closed in
September 1998. The plan was established in July of 1997. As of June,
2000, there were 33 participants with vested benefits of approximately
$111,000 in assets. |
Management Resource Associates was the administrator of
the MRA 401(k) plan when it’s general manager, Gary Farhner, relocated
from the South Bay to Crescent City in September 1998, abandoning both the
company and its employee pension plan. |
The judgment removes MRA as plan administrator. The
court will appoint an independent administrator to disburse the assets of
the plan, considered orphaned by MRA in September of 1998. |
Plans become orphan plans when they are
abandoned by all plan fiduciaries designated to manage them and their
assets, preventing participants and beneficiaries from receiving pension
distributions and making inquiries about their benefits. |
“MRA employees who had put money into the plan for
nearly two years weren’t even able to get statements on the plan’s
performance,” said Bette Briggs, regional director for the Labor
Department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration in San
Francisco. “This company simply walked away from its responsibilities to
employees and to their pension plan.” |
Briggs said PWBA aggressively enforces laws which
prevent this kind of abuse, and protect the hard-earned pension benefits
promised by employers. Briggs credits employees of the leasing firm for
contacting her office in San Francisco, “These employees took action to
protect money they knew was theirs. As a result, they will once again be
able to manage their retirement funds, and to include this money in their
retirement planning.” |
Briggs encourages anyone with questions about their
private employer sponsored pension plans to pay attention to the
statements they receive from the plan administrators, and to call if they
have questions or concerns. Employees may contact the San Francisco office
of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration at 415.975.4600 during
regular business hours. Additional information is available from the Labor
Department’s Web site. Copies of PWBA publications can also be requested
from the agency’s toll free publications hotline at 1.800.998.7542. |
U.S. Department of Labor
news releases are accessible on the Internet. The information in this news
release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large
print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive
Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing
your request. Call 202.693.7773 or TTY 202.693.7775. |