A team from Dentons secured a sweeping and complete victory for Chimes D.C., against what began as a 10-count lawsuit brought by the Department of Labor. An opinion handed down last week from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland after an 11-day bench trial rejected all of the Department of Labor’s allegations and exonerated the Baltimore-based nonprofit that mainstreams disabled workers through government contracts. The Dentons team was led by Labor & Employment partners Brian Cousin and Richard Scharlat and included associate Christina Dumitrescu and counsel Mark Meredith.

At the heart of the case were allegations that Chimes violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by paying excessive fees for services and engaging in prohibited transactions in connection with the health and welfare plan it provided for its employees.

According to U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett in the 50-page decision, Chimes “took reasonable measures to oversee and monitor the Plan and its service providers, and they made reasoned decisions that were consistent with that of a prudent person acting in a like capacity in similar circumstances” and “did not engage in prohibited transactions…"

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