Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
Minneapolis, Minnesota - A consent judgment and order obtained on September 5 by the U.S. Department of Labor ordered the appointment of an independent fiduciary to terminate the Sun Country Airlines, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan and distribute $2.5 million in plan assets to over 700 participants. Sun Country Airlines, Inc., located in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, is currently in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
According to the department’s lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Aug. 21, all of the fiduciaries of the Sun Country plan either resigned or were terminated from employment with the company. Therefore, no authorized individual was left to provide directions to the bank holding the plan’s assets to distribute or roll over account balances of individual participants. Without a plan fiduciary, participants and beneficiaries have been unable to obtain distributions from their accounts.
The Sun Country plan was established Dec. 1, 1983. As of July 15, 2002, the plan had $2,528,629 in assets and 721 participants.
The consent judgment and order approved the appointment of Lefoldt & Co., P.A., Certified Public Accountants, as the independent fiduciary. Lefoldt & Company will have authority to distribute the plan’s assets and terminate the plan in accordance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
“This action demonstrates our commitment to protect the hard-earned benefits of American workers,” said Gregory Egan, director of the department’s Kansas City regional office of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, which investigated the case.
Employers and workers can contact the Kansas City regional office at 1.816.426.5131 or EBSA’s Toll-Free Employee & Employer Hotline number, 1.866.275.7922, for help with problems relating to private-sector pension and health plans.
(Chao v. Sun Country Airlines, Inc.
Civil Action No CV-02-2967) 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 202.693.7755.
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