ComplianceJanuary 6, 2011

Ex-Business Owners Responsible for Plan Losses

Former owners of a St. Paul, Minnesota, business services company are jointly liable for repaying losses to the company’s retirement plan after they used plan assets to pay creditors, a judge ruled.

Reported by Fred Schneyer

U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota rejected arguments by defendant Joel Blackford that he was not a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Montgomery ruled both Joel Blackford and co-defendant Susan Blackford qualified as fiduciaries. Susan Blackford, the plan’s administrator, admitted she was a fiduciary.

A Department of Labor (DoL) lawsuit alleged that the Blackfords co-mingled between $12,000 and $14,000 from plan assets into their company’s general account between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2006, and used the extra funds to pay creditors. The plan suffered losses of $13,218 as a result of the violations, according to the suit.

Since the funds were mishandled under ERISA, Montgomery concluded that both Joel and Susan should be held liable for repaying the plan’s losses.

The case is Solis v. Blackford, D. Minn., No. 09-2148 ADM/JSM.