Abandoned 401(k) Plan in Washington State Gets DOL-Appointed Fiduciary

The Department of Labor secured a court order to appoint an independent fiduciary overseeing the abandoned 401(k) plan of Commercial Aircraft Interiors LLC, a defunct aerospace company in Arlington, Washington.

The order, entered on September 29 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, appointed Ohio-based AMI Benefit Plan Administrators Inc. as the independent fiduciary for the Commercial Aircraft Interiors LLC 401(k) Plan, which had been frozen since the employer shut down operations in 2023.

Prior to the court order, Commercial Aircraft Interiors’ remaining responsive company representative had lacked the legal authority to approve distributions of plan assets. The independent fiduciary will be able to distribute retirement savings to eligible former employees and could 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, Seattle district office supervisor for the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, in a statement. “We urge all workers to contact the department for assistance when their retirement plan has been abandoned and they have not received the benefits to which they are entitled.”

According to the DOL, the Commercial Aircraft Interiors plan currently has 59 participants and approximately $260,000 in assets—down from 84 participants and $391,000 in assets at the end of 2022, according to its most recent Form 5500.

The independent fiduciary’s fees and expenses will be paid from the plan assets or from EBSA’s Abandoned Plan Fund, according to the order.