US Labor Department obtains court order naming independent fiduciary for 401(k) plan of defunct WA-based aerospace company

SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a court order to appoint an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of a defunct Arlington-based aerospace company.The order, entered in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, appoints AMI Benefit Plan Administrators Inc. as the independent fiduciary for the Commercial Aircraft Interiors LLC 401(k) Plan, which has been frozen since the employer shut down operations in 2023. In this role, the independent fiduciary will be able to distribute its assets to eligible former employees who have not been able to access their retirement savings because the only responsive company representative, Charles Pratt, lacked the legal authority needed to approve distributions. The independent fiduciary will also be able to formally terminate the plan.“The appointment of an independent fiduciary will give the participants in the Commercial Aircraft Interiors plan access to the funds that rightly belong to them,” said Liam Roberts, district director for the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration in Seattle. “We urge all workers to contact the department for assistance when their retir...