Compliance June 16, 2017

EEOC Charges Company With Firing Foreman Because of His Age

The agency claims that the production superintendent who terminated the foreman also made ageist comments regarding the foreman’s co-workers, including repeated remarks about being "too old to do the job."
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One day after holding a hearing about how regulators and plan sponsors can help keep older workers in the workforce, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed another age bias suit.

The lawsuit charges that a 52-year old production foreman with years of industry experience was pushed out of his job at the hands of a new superintendent at Fort Worth-based Atlas Resource Partners, because he preferred younger workers.

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According to the EEOC, Atlas fired Production Foreman William Hutto despite his record of strong performance for the company. Prior to his termination, Hutto had never been disciplined. The EEOC expects to present evidence that Hutto was a strong and capable worker who was highly regarded by his peers. The EEOC claims that the production superintendent who terminated Hutto also made ageist comments regarding Hutto’s co-workers, including repeated remarks about being “too old to do the job.”

Such alleged conduct violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, (ADEA), which prohibits employers from discriminating based on age. The EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division (EEOC v. Atlas Resource Partners, L.P., Civil Action No.3:17-CV-01582-N), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Products June 16, 2017

HealthSavings Administrators Launches InvestorSELECT HSA

The InvestorSELECT HSA offers first-dollar investing in nearly 400 available funds.
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HealthSavings Administrators, a health savings account (HSA) investment company, has launched InvestorSELECT HSA.

The InvestorSELECT HSA offers first-dollar investing in nearly 400 available funds—which the firm says is one of the largest HSA fund lists currently on the national market.

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Top benefits include:

  • First-dollar investment, with no minimum balance required;
  • Nearly 400 funds to choose from, including funds from Vanguard, Dimensional, Franklin Templeton, MFS, Pimco, T. Rowe Price, TIAA and more;
  • Account holders can invest in as many funds as they would like; and
  • No investment transaction fees.

While invested, the money remains available for use, or it can grow tax-deferred for future use.

“InvestorSELECT HSA gives account holders more investment options than almost any other product currently on the national market,” says Kirk Hoewisch, president of HealthSavings. “Coupled with our first-dollar investing with no minimum balance required and our lack of investment transaction fees, this product offers amazing flexibility to any account holder who wants to grow their HSA dollars for retirement.”

The retirement industry is starting to tout the additional benefits of HSAs as retirement planning tools, and experts say the key to growing HSA savings is to invest the money.

More about the new HSA can be found at https://healthsavings.com/investorselect/.

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