U.S. Labor Department sues retirement plan trustees of defunct Alabama wholesaler to recover nearly $900,000 in pension assets
ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct Vinyl-Mark Products Inc. of Hueytown, Ala., and the company's pension and profit sharing plan trustees for allegedly misusing $898,259.69 in plan assets to pay the operating expenses of the company. The lawsuit alleges that the company, formerly known as First Alabama Supply Co. Inc. and trustees Willard D. Bailey Jr. and Jessie Mae Bailey violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The trustees allegedly made a series of transfers from the plans to the operating accounts of the company at various times between October 2004 and February 2007. "The department will not tolerate the misuse of workers' retirement savings to subsidize corporate expenses," said Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). "Our legal action is designed to ensure these workers are made whole and prevent the trustees from misusing employee ...