Date of action:           Dec. 12, 2024Type of action:          Consent judgmentEmployers:                 MSES Consultants Inc., Lawrence RineAllegations: The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against MSES Consultants Inc. and owner Lawrence Rine after the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration found fiduciary breaches related to the MSES Consultants Inc. Employee Health Plan. Investigators found the parties failed to pay more than $187,000 in adjudicated health claims, resulting in harm to the plan’s participants and beneficiaries, who were entitled to benefits under the plan as MSES employees. The engineering consulting company is now defunct.Resolution:  The department negotiated and entered a consent judgment that provided all its sought relief in the lawsuit. Among other things, it requires the company and Rine to pay for an independent fiduciary to investigate unpaid plan claims and remit money to pay any remaining money due for those claims. The consent judgment also removes the company and Rine as fiduciaries and permanently forbids them from future ERISA violations or from holding authority over ERISA plan assets.Quote:  “Fiduciaries are required by law to always act in the best interest of plan participants and beneficiaries. When they fall short of this obligation, the U.S. Department of Labor will use all available tools to hold them legally accountable,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia. Court:  U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Clarksburg.Employers and workers can reach EBSA toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems related to private sector retirement and health plans. Learn more about EBSA.Docket Number: 1:23-cv-00055-TSK-MJA