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In August 2004, the four trustees of the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund were ousted from the board and they were also ordered to pay $10.98 million in restitution and civil penalties for irresponsible management of the fund which was used to invest in the building of Diplomat Resort and Country Club in Hollywood, Florida.
According to the then US Secretary, the trustees mismanaged the investment and as a result they risked the retirement benefits of thousands of union workers.
Pension trustees Martin J Maddaloni, President of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitters Industry of the United States and Canada; Thomas Patchell, General Secretary-Treasurer of the Plumbers union; Charles H Carlson, former Chairman of Industrial Piping Company; Patrick Perno, administrative assistant to the general president of the Plumbers union; and James H House, part owner of J A House a bankrupt refrigerant manufacturing corporation were all involved in this scandal.
Besides being asked to pay restitution, Maddaloni and Patchell have resigned permanently from their positions as trustees for the fund and 6 other ERISA-covered plans where they were serving as fiduciaries. Carlson and House have also resigned as trustees.
In September 2002, the Department of Labor sued the trustees because they violated Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by unwisely funding the Diplomat Resort project without conducting the required analysis.
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To qualify for a disability pension, a public employee has to file an injury report, get medical documentation certifying his disability, and then get approval for the disability pension. In addition, depending on the state laws and rules, the applicant might even have to undergo a medical examination by a state-appointed medical panel to check the authenticity of the disability pension claim. 
