Explore General Inc. in Fresno, Calif., and Jaime M. Gonzalez, the company's former CEO and president, have been ordered to pay $519,601 to the company's 401(k) profit-sharing plan, according to the terms of a judgment and order entered in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

The U.S. Department of Labor filed this lawsuit following an investigation by the Employee Benefits Security Administration. According to the lawsuit, the defendants did not pay the required fringe benefits to the plan and breached their fiduciary duties mandated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act when they did not administer the plan solely in the best interests of participants. Explore General is no longer in business.

Chief Judge Anthony W. Ishii ordered Explore General to pay its workers an hourly prevailing wage rate along with a fringe benefit for all participants in the form of contributions to the retirement plan when it was contracted to work on projects financially supported by government agencies. The agencies paid Explore General in full for its work, including fringe benefit amounts that were sent to the plan, but it did not remit more than $300,000 to the plan. Instead, Explore General used the money for overall operating expenses. Justice Ishii is also ordering Explore General to restore lost earnings to the plan.