MUSKEGON, Mich. — Some former employees of Cole's Quality Foods are still unable to access their 401(k) retirement funds more than three months after the company's sudden closure in November.
WATCH: 'I need my money': Former Cole's Quality Foods employees still waiting for retirement funds months after closure
The company closed its doors on November 9, terminating all employees. Within 24 hours, some workers like Lisa Laventure requested to withdraw their retirement funds but were told they would have to wait up to 90 days for the process to complete due to the plant-wide termination.
"I have a mortgage. I have bills, just like everybody else. I need my money," said Derrick Dozier, a former Cole's employee. "I've invested in this place, faithfully at work an hour ahead of time every day. I'm really angry."
The delay has created financial hardship for several former employees. Laventure said she's facing the possibility of losing her home.
"I'm definitely really struggling. I'm a house payment away from losing my house," Laventure said.
Former employees say they're receiving conflicting information from Cole's and Principal Financial Group, the company managing their 401(k) accounts.
"Cole's is telling us that they have provided all the paperwork to Principal, and then when we call Principal to get clarification, they're stating that they're still waiting on termination papers from Cole's," said Monica Clark, another former employee.
The confusion has led former workers to share their experiences on social media, with many reporting similar issues accessing their funds.
In a recording from Laventure's recent call with Principal Financial Group, she was told there were still problems preventing her withdrawal despite the 90-day waiting period having passed.
"I was told I had to wait the 90 days to be 100% vested and for the plant termination to go through, and then after that, I should be able to pull my money out, no problem. And now it's been over 90 days, I'm trying to pull my money out, and there's a problem," Laventure said.
A Principal Financial Group representative said in a call with me Wednesday that they were still waiting for information from Cole's to process the withdrawals.
Thursday, Furlani Foods, the company that purchased Cole's nine months before its closure, provided a statement regarding the situation.
We understand employees' concerns and take this matter seriously. We have been actively coordinating with our recordkeeper, Principal Financial Group, through the required plan termination and distribution process, and we have provided all necessary information to them. We will continue providing updates directly to former employees as distributions are processed. We remain committed to ensuring employees receive the funds to which they are entitled as quickly as possible.
Prior to this statement, Thursday morning, following inquiries about the situation, Cole's HR director Ann Keenan sent an email to former employees acknowledging the delays and apologizing for mixed messages about their 401(k) accounts.
"As you know, because everyone was terminated, it caused a full plan termination and that unfortunately is a lengthy process," the email stated. "Unfortunately, we are beyond the 90 days and it is still not complete."
Keenan wrote that Cole's and Principal Financial Group have been in contact and the process to release funds is moving forward. The email indicated that within the next few weeks, employees will receive a letter from Principal outlining their retirement account options.
Muskegon
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For now, the former employees say they simply want access to their money.
"Pay us our money, give us what's owed to us," said Frank Miller, another former Cole's employee. "That's all we want. We don't want nothing else but that."
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