The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a district court ruling that an employer's unpaid fringe benefit contributions owed to an employee 401(k) plan were not plan assets under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because they were not clearly identified as plan assets in the governing documents. It also ruled that the employer did not breach its fiduciary duty by not depositing the correct funds into the retirement plan.
The initial lawsuit was filed in the District Court for the Southern District of Florida by former employee Manuel Pantoja against Edward Zengel & Son Express, Inc., a family-owned trucking company that contracts with the U.S. Postal Service to haul mail.
As part of the trucking company's contract with the postal service, it was obligated to provide certain minimum wages and fringe benefits to its employees who performed services related to the contract. EZS could fulfill its obligation by either paying the fringe benefits as wages or directly providing benefits, like depositing money into an employee 401(k) plan, according to the appeal.
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