Dept. of Labor recovers $8.6 million for Agway retirees

SYRACUSE - Retirees from a defunct upstate New York agricultural cooperative will receive nearly $8.6 million under a settlement announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Agway Inc. also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $859,000 plus interest to the labor department. And pension plan officials and the company's board of directors were barred from involvement in any employee benefit plans for one to two years unless they first complete fiduciary training, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

The settlement involved recovery on about $15 million in preferred stock that had been deemed worthless by a bankruptcy court, meaning retirees will now be recouping more than 50 percent of their losses, said Ned Tudi, an Agway retiree and a member of the now-disbanded retired unsecured creditors committee.