Pulver Roofing one of companies hit hardest by Madoff ponzi scheme

UTICA, Jan. 8, 2010-- Bill Owens, owner of Pulver Roofing in Utica, said since many of his employees have seen their pensions disappear, early retirement may no longer be an option.

"Some might have wished to take an early retirement and accept all of the restrictions that come along with that," he said. "Now I don't think they have that choice."

Last summer, employees of Pulver Roofing, along with the rest of the members of Roofers Local 195, saw their pension funds dwindle with the rest of the fraudulent investments made by Bernie Madoff.  Owens said that most of his workers saw their retirement dwindle by about half and they're reserved to the idea that it's not coming back.

"Of course, if it affects your employees it affects you and your business," he said, "It's devastating for me both personally and professionally." 

The knowledge of the lost pensions came on heels of charges against one of its former bookkeepers, Bobbi Radell, who is still awaiting sentencing for embezzling nearly $1 million from the business. On top of that, the economy has been weak and taxes are almost certainly going to go up.

"This couldn't have happened at a worse time for us," Owens said. 

For his part, Owens said union workers are sill paid relatively well, and that during upcoming negotiations he'll likely offer a higher employer contribution to their retirements in light of the recent loss.

"We can help by paying more into it," he said. "It doesn't change that their life has been altered n and retirees will lose money that they'll probably never get back."

Some unions have sued a Syracuse-area investment firm for its dealings with Madoff, citing that the firm handled the money improperly and invested it without doing thorough research. 

Alicia Dearn, a California-based employment attorney and owner of the national legal referral service Goodsharks.com, said retirement issues have been in the news lately and may be on the rise soon.

"We have an aging workforce," she said. "In 10 years, 30 percent of the workforce will be retiring and most pension plans are underfunded. Now, you add to that some of them may have invested in a ponzi scheme or even in a bank that they thought was sound and it wasn't; you're going to be stuck with a lot of employees who aren't getting what they expected."

Dearn said there's often little recourse for the employees unless someone was handling their money negligently or not fulfilling contractual contribution obligations.

"If an employer invests the money with a reputable firm, and they make bad investments, state laws vary, but I'm guessing there's not usually going to be a whole lot of legal recourse," she said.

The only other local roofing company in Roofers Local 195, Lawrence Rieben & Sons of Whitesboro, was contacted by Utica Daily News, but UDN didn't get a response from the message it left with the receptionist.

As for Pulver Roofing, Owens said he's confident his workers will stay with his company, its union and their trade.

"They're roofers by trade, that's what they do," he said. "With the union, they make as much as you can relative to other people that do the work-- unless, they move to somewhere like New York, but the cost of living is so much higher. So it doesn't change their life's work, even though they know they've lost a lot of money they're probably not going to ever see again."