Court Removes Nonprofit as Plan Fiduciary

An investigation by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) found that the Rape and Victim Assistance Center of Schuylkill County in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, ceased operations in 2009 and all its employees were terminated. The Center sponsored a retirement plan, which currently has five participants and approximately $10,854.89 in assets. The EBSA found that the Center had not taken fiduciary responsibility for the operation and administration of the plan and its assets, nor had it appointed anyone to assume responsibility on an ongoing basis.

The DOL filed a complaint in United States District Court for the Middle of Pennsylvania on April 2, 2013. The complaint, Perez v. Rape and Victim Assistance Center of Schuylkill County (docket number: 3:13-cv-00832-RDM), sought the appointment of an independent fiduciary to terminate the plan and distribute its assets to the remaining plan participants.

The district court issued a default judgment that removed the Center as fiduciary and appointed Metro Benefits Inc. of Pittsburgh as independent fiduciary to administer the plan and distribute the assets to the plan participants and beneficiaries before terminating the plan.

The full text of the judgment can be found here.