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http://www.herald-citizen.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=95223305-19B9-E2E2-67851FE7BFE8D9BF
Lawsuit filed against former Cookeville company
COOKEVILLE
TN — A former Cookeville company has been sued by the U.S. Department
of Labor for failing to provide 401(k) participants access to their
retirement funds.Renewable Resources Inc., a re-manufacturer of
computer printer and toner cartridges, is accused of failing to
terminate its 401(k) plan and distribute assets to eligible
participants after the company ceased operations. As a result,
participants were unable to receive information about and access to
their funds.The suit, filed Feb. 13 in U.S. District Court for the
Middle District of Tennessee, asks the court to appoint an independent
fiduciary to terminate the plan and distribute its assets.The
Department of Labor did not release how many people could possibly be
affected.Renewable Resources was bought by New Jersey-based Reink
Imaging in 1999, and both companies are no longer in operating. Michael
Wald, a spokesman with the U.S. Department of Labor, said Renewable
Resources filed for bankruptcy in 2003.The U.S. Department of
Labor typically doesn’t discuss how investigations are initiated, he
said, but according to a press release, the case resulted from an
investigation conducted by the department’s Employee Benefits Security
Administration office in Atlanta.A former Renewable Resources
employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the problem
with the 401(k) accounts was discovered about three years ago after she
had met with a financial planner. The company administering the
program, New York-based investment firm Scudder Kemper, was unable to
release it to the participants.“Because Renewable Resources was no
longer in business, and the so-called guardian of the account was no
longer living, basically the account was in limbo,” the employee said.
“It’s more of a formality, I guess, but the only way it can be resolved
at this point is for the courts to appoint a fiduciary to act on behalf
of the 401(k) program.”It isn’t the first time Renewable Resources has
made headlines. In 1999, the company was required to alter its practice
of ink disposal — Renewable had been using an underground tank that the
EPA said might contaminate ground water.In 2000, the company had
another run-in with the EPA. Reink was found responsible for turning
the Falling Water River red — after an employee inadvertently dumped 20
to 30 gallons of water-based, non-hazardous red ink down a drain. The
company was cited for the incident.A court date for the current case has yet to be set.
“The
Labor Department will step in to protect the rights of plan
participants when the fiduciary fails to make provisions for the
orderly distribution of assets from its discontinued retirement plan,”
R.C. Marshall, regional director of the EBSA, said in a statement.In
the 2008 fiscal year, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.2 billion
related to pensions, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of
American workers and their families.
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