A former top executive is suing Detroit ad firm Doner over its handling of its pension plan, fueling questions over whether the agency properly disclosed the plan to employees.
The lawsuit, filed by former chief marketing officer Bryan Yolles, claims he’s been trying for two years to get Doner to supply information about its pension plan as required under federal law.
The suit alleges the agency ignored more than a dozen requests to provide a summary of the pension plan along with an individual statement detailing Yolles’ retirement benefits after he left the agency in October 2007.
The suit comes as questions were already swirling about Doner’s pension plan. Earlier this month, an ad industry blog, Agency Spy, reported that some Doner employees were shocked to learn that the company had a plan.
In response to “rumors and innuendo,” Doner Chairman and CEO Alan Kalter sent an e-mail to employees, saying the pension issue came up when an unnamed employee left the firm.
“He was surprised to learn he had a pension,” Kalter wrote. “Happily so, but still surprised. We realized then that we have failed to communicate this benefit properly to you. I apologize for that sin of omission.”
Kalter said the company was preparing individual statements for employees detailing their benefits.
Firms with so-called “defined pension plans” like Doner’s are required to provide employees with plan descriptions after they’re hired. Under older laws, employees were also supposed to get annual reports of their plans.
In 2006, lawmakers passed new rules requiring employers to provide individual employee statements every three years or send annual notices to all participants in the plan.
According to Yolles’ attorney, David Lawrence, Doner never provided annual reports and any other plan information to his client during the 15 years he worked at the firm.
“He was under the impression that there was [a pension plan] but had never received any reports or any information,” Lawrence told The Post. “When he left the company, he inquired as to whether there was one.”
In an interview, Doner’s chief financial officer, H. Barry Levine, said the company wasn’t aware of the suit until a reporter called. After learning of it, he said he sent the documents to Yolles.
“The anticipation would be upon the receipt and review of that information this will all be resolved,” Levine said.
Levine didn’t explain the delay in providing the information, despite a letter Yolles’ attorneys sent by certified mail to Levine warning him that their client was prepared to take legal action.
Doner’s pension plan had about 1,200 participants at the end of 2006, of whom about 687 are currently employed, according to the latest available federal filing. Doner, which has more than 800 employees, closed the plan to new hires in March 2007, but it still accrues benefits for existing participants.