Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
Chicago, Illinois - The U.S. Department of Labor sued defunct Dynaweld, Inc. of Aurora, Illinois on Oct. 11, 2002, to obtain a court-appointed independent fiduciary to manage, terminate and distribute the assets of the company’s orphaned profit sharing plan to participants and beneficiaries.
Plans become "orphan plans" when they are abandoned by all fiduciaries designated to manage and operate them and their assets. As a result, participants and beneficiaries are unable to receive pension distributions and to make inquiries about their benefits.
Dynaweld, which provided construction companies with large-scale earth moving and excavation equipment, ceased operations on Oct. 13, 2000 and was subsequently dissolved by the state of Illinois. The plan’s three administrators also resigned between November and December 2000. As of Aug. 31, 2001, the plan covered eight participants and had $122,628 in assets.
The lawsuit alleges that Dynaweld failed to appoint successor fiduciaries to manage, operate and terminate the plan. As a result, participants were unable to obtain pension distributions and communicate with the plan. The company also failed to formally terminate the plan and file the plan’s annual financial report for the year ending in February of 2001.
The suit, filed in federal district court in Chicago, resulted from an investigation conducted by the Chicago regional office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
(Chao v. Dynaweld Civil Action No. 02-C-7328) 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.
Printer Friendly Version Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
