Compliance May 23, 2006

PBGC Grabs Pittsburgh Brewing Co. Plan

May 23, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The agency that insures private-sector pension plans has taken over a retirement program covering 532 workers and retirees of Pittsburgh Brewing Co.
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) said in a news release that The Pittsburgh Brewing Co. Pension Plan was frozen in 1995 and that it formally ended in April 2005. The bankrupt company had made Iron City Beer and other brands.

Tuesday’s move came after a US Bankruptcy Court judge approved the plan termination (SeeFriday Set as Pittsburgh Brewing Pension Turnover Pact ) and after the PBGC decided that the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. plan met the legal criteria for a PBGC takeover (See  Pittsburgh Brewing to PBGC: Take Our DB Plan ).

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The PBGC estimated the plan is 50% funded, with about $12 million in assets to cover nearly $24 million in promised benefits. The agency said it expects to be responsible for $11 million of the $12 million shortfall.

Termination of the plan does not affect the IUE-CWA Pension Fund, an ongoing multi-employer pension plan whose several employer-sponsors include Pittsburgh Brewing Co., the PBGC announcement said.

Benefits May 22, 2006

Report: Reprimanded Boston Health Exec Admits to More Sex Harassment

May 22, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The president of a Boston-based health care provider has admitted to sexually harassing more women than in the four cases for which he was reprimanded last week.
Reported by

An attorney for the Boston Archdiocese told the Boston Globe that not only has Dr. Robert Haddad, the Caritas Christi Health Care system president, admitted to more instances of sexual harassment, but witnesses have also indicated there were more victims.

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David Mandel, an employment law specialist working for the archdiocese, told the Globe that the archdiocese has kicked off a further probe of Haddad following reports that he ”leered and winked” at one of the four victims on May 10, after the archdiocesan investigation was all but concluded.

If the inquiry finds that the reports were accurate, the Caritas board of governors that agreed to the ”stern reprimand” would have to consider possible further sanctions against Haddad, Mandel told the newspaper.

According to Mandel, the board was told Thursday that there were more than the four women involved before they endorsed Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s recommendation that Haddad be reprimanded and receive instruction in sexual harassment guidelines.

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