Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia

Re: Retirement plan-deducted, not sent

Given your factual scenario your employer has likely violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and at a minimum you can compel your employer to reimburse you for the money that your employer has failed to remit to your plan administrator. An employer has a fiduciary duty to notify beneficiaries and participants promptly of the any retirement plan termination. Where an employer breaches its fiduciary duty to provide prompt notice of plan termination, harmed participants are generally entitled to payment of the terminated benefit if the fiduciary's breach was deliberate or egregious in some other manner. See e.g., Rucker v Pacific FM, Inc. 806 F Supp 1453 (1992). In your case, because your employer continued to accept your payment even though it knew that it had terminated its plan, it has likely violated ERISA and would be required to reimburse you for the benefits you paid. Call my assistant, Shaquita Wilson (202)331-2883, if you wish to discuss this further. � Scott Oswald