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Enron may oust trustees
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February 11, 2002: 6:37 a.m. ET
Labor Department talks to failed trader about independent pension oversight.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - The U.S. Labor Department says it is negotiating with Enron Corp. to remove the officials now overseeing the failed energy giant's pension plans and replace them with independent overseers.
Ann Combs, assistant secretary of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, said in a statement Sunday that federal officials hope to reach an agreement with Enron "without engaging in a lengthy court proceeding."
But if an agreement can't be reached "in the very near future," the Labor Department will seek a court order to replace the pension plan administrators, she said.
Combs said the department's objective is to replace the administrative committees now overseeing Enron's pension plans with independent experts who are "experienced in protecting the interest of participants and beneficiaries in complex pension plans like Enron's."
Enron's employee retirement plans have come under scrutiny since the company's plunge into bankruptcy. Many employees who had invested their retirement funds in Enron stock saw their investments vanish when the company stock tumbled.
As the company's financial woes became public, employees were prevented from selling their Enron stock after the administrator for the company's retirement plans was changed. 
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