The Department of Labor is seeking a court mandate to compel Alight Solutions to produce documents in an ongoing ERISA compliance investigation.
In a petition filed April 6 in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, the Labor Department said Alight hasn't turned over sufficient documents to the Employee Benefits Security Administration. The Chicago regional office of EBSA opened an investigation in July to determine whether Alight had violated the Employee Retirement Security Act based on separate plan-level investigations, according to court documents.
EBSA discovered that Alight processed unauthorized distributions as a result of cybersecurity breaches relating to its ERISA plan clients' accounts, the agency said in court filings.
"Further, in violation of its service provider agreements, Alight failed to immediately report cybersecurity breaches and the related unauthorized distributions to ERISA plan clients after its discoveries," the filings said. In some instances, the Labor Department said Alight failed to disclose cybersecurity breaches and unauthorized distributions to its ERISA plan clients "for months, if at all. Alight also repeatedly failed to restore the unauthorized distribution amounts to its ERISA plan clients' accounts."
The Labor Department issued a subpoena in November. In January, Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Alight "provided a limited number of documents and provided a 39-page letter containing numerous objections," according to the agency's court filing.
"We have been working with the DOL to better understand their request, but their specific asks and intent remain broad and unclear," Alight spokeswoman MacKenzie Lucas said in an email. "We will continue to work with them to provide necessary information while protecting the privacy of our clients and their people."
Complying with Labor Department subpoenas is "not optional," said Jeffrey Monhart, EBSA's Chicago regional director, in a news release. "This case demonstrates the department's commitment to protecting employee benefits."
