Thursday, November 16, 2006
Tweet[IWS] DOL Settlement w former ENRON EXEC. JEFF SKILLING [16 November 2006]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
EBSA News Release: [11/16/2006]
Contact Name: Peter Hong or Gloria Della
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676 or x8666
Release Number: 06-1976-NAT
U.S. Department of Labor Announces Settlement With Former Enron Executive Jeffrey Skilling
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/ebsa/ebsa20061976.htm
WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a settlement agreement with former Enron executive Jeffrey K. Skilling resolving the department's action against him. Under the agreement, Skilling will drop his opposition to a previous $85 million settlement, waive his right to benefits from Enron's pension plans and be permanently barred from serving in a fiduciary capacity to any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the future.
This proposed settlement must be formally documented and submitted for approval to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The settlement acknowledges that Skilling is already subject to an order of forfeiture obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice's Enron Task Force. That order, entered Oct. 23, 2006 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, requires the establishment of a $45 million restitution fund for victims of Enron-related fraud, including plan participants and securities investors. The Labor Department's settlement provides that, if Skilling's convictions are overturned or vacated and the restitution fund is dissolved, Skilling will still pay $2.5 million to the participants and beneficiaries in the company's savings and employee stock ownership plans plus $500,000 in penalties to the department.
On June 26, 2003, the Labor Department sued Skilling and others for mismanagement of the plans in violation of ERISA. The department alleged that Skilling failed to properly oversee the fiduciaries appointed to run Enron's plans and failed to correct misstatements about Enron's financial condition made by Kenneth Lay to plan participants. Skilling also was sued as a member of Enron's board of directors for failing to properly appoint and monitor a trustee to oversee the employee stock ownership plan.
In previous settlements obtained by the Labor Department and private plaintiffs, more than $220.8 million has been recovered for the pension plans from Enron, its directors, officers and fiduciaries who served on the plans' administrative committee. The department and private plaintiffs also obtained a $12 million claim against Lay's estate, although the final recovery will depend on the total amount of assets available for distribution from the estate. These recoveries are subject to the resolution of certain appeals as well as attorneys' fees and expenses, and they do not include any recovery obtained from Skilling.
The department's suit resulted from a comprehensive investigation conducted by the Dallas regional office of the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Office of the Solicitor of Labor.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
EBSA News Release: [11/16/2006]
Contact Name: Peter Hong or Gloria Della
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676 or x8666
Release Number: 06-1976-NAT
U.S. Department of Labor Announces Settlement With Former Enron Executive Jeffrey Skilling
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/ebsa/ebsa20061976.htm
WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a settlement agreement with former Enron executive Jeffrey K. Skilling resolving the department's action against him. Under the agreement, Skilling will drop his opposition to a previous $85 million settlement, waive his right to benefits from Enron's pension plans and be permanently barred from serving in a fiduciary capacity to any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the future.
This proposed settlement must be formally documented and submitted for approval to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The settlement acknowledges that Skilling is already subject to an order of forfeiture obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice's Enron Task Force. That order, entered Oct. 23, 2006 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, requires the establishment of a $45 million restitution fund for victims of Enron-related fraud, including plan participants and securities investors. The Labor Department's settlement provides that, if Skilling's convictions are overturned or vacated and the restitution fund is dissolved, Skilling will still pay $2.5 million to the participants and beneficiaries in the company's savings and employee stock ownership plans plus $500,000 in penalties to the department.
On June 26, 2003, the Labor Department sued Skilling and others for mismanagement of the plans in violation of ERISA. The department alleged that Skilling failed to properly oversee the fiduciaries appointed to run Enron's plans and failed to correct misstatements about Enron's financial condition made by Kenneth Lay to plan participants. Skilling also was sued as a member of Enron's board of directors for failing to properly appoint and monitor a trustee to oversee the employee stock ownership plan.
In previous settlements obtained by the Labor Department and private plaintiffs, more than $220.8 million has been recovered for the pension plans from Enron, its directors, officers and fiduciaries who served on the plans' administrative committee. The department and private plaintiffs also obtained a $12 million claim against Lay's estate, although the final recovery will depend on the total amount of assets available for distribution from the estate. These recoveries are subject to the resolution of certain appeals as well as attorneys' fees and expenses, and they do not include any recovery obtained from Skilling.
The department's suit resulted from a comprehensive investigation conducted by the Dallas regional office of the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Office of the Solicitor of Labor.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 12:33 PM
