I\u2019ve heard of for years on how small 401(k) plans and their plan fiduciaries don\u2019t get sued. While they are never going to be the target for a class action lawsuit because they don\u2019t have enough assets to justify an ERISA litigator to use, they\u2019re still a threat.<\/p>\n
While it won\u2019t make the evening news, there is another Department of Labor (DOL) lawsuit against a small plan maintained by a defunct plan sponsor and the plan fiduciary who was responsible for a not so nice thing. The DOL is suing a defunct Pennsylvania employer Wind Turbine Solutions LLC and the plan fiduciary Matthew Kenneth Smith for what went on in the Wind Turbine Solutions LLC Retirement Trust.<\/p>\n
From 2011 until the company folded in April 2014, Wind Turbine Solutions and Smith served as plan fiduciaries. They withheld approximately $78,000 from the employee participants\u2019 wages and salary for salary deferrals; failed to transfer a significant amount of the deferrals to the plan; and failed to pay interest on the unremitted contributions.<\/p>\n
The remittance of salary deferral contributions is a big thing for the DOL to crack down on, so it\u2019s always important for a plan sponsor whether in business distress or not, to timely remit what\u2019s been withheld.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve heard of for years on how small 401(k) plans and their plan fiduciaries don\u2019t get sued. While they are never going to be the target for a class action lawsuit because they don\u2019t have enough assets to justify an … Continue reading