Federal suit claims Wheaton business misused employee's retirement fund
In the window of Denson's Compounding Pharmacy in downtown Wheaton, a blue-and-gold sign proclaims, "50 years Serving the Community." For about 32 of those years, Mary Lou Pochowicz was a friend of the Denson family and an employee of the pharmacy and related Denson businesses.
But on Wednesday, Pochowicz, 66, filed a federal lawsuit claiming Denson Shops had been misusing money targeted for her retirement fund for more than a decade and fired her by email after Pochowicz discovered the funds were missing.
Some of the money was returned to Pochowicz's account in February, her lawyers say, but the lawsuit seeks return of all her original investment plus earnings and penalties. It does not give a dollar amount.
"For years, money was being taken out of Mrs. Pochowicz's paycheck and it wasn't going to where it was supposed to," said Mark DeBofsky, an employee benefits attorney who filed the suit Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Chicago.
Sue Denson, who with her pharmacist husband Tom runs the business, said the money is in employees' retirement funds.
"Every single penny is paid," Sue Denson said during a recent break while manning the pharmacy counter. The Densons' attorney did not respond to requests for more information.
The federal government's Employee Benefits Security Administration has "an open investigation of the company that is currently ongoing," says Rhonda Burke, deputy director for public affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor.
The lawsuit names Denson Shops, Tom and Sue Denson and their daughters Pamela Denson Frett and Mary Sue Denson Wysocki. It claims Pochowicz had about $25,000 deducted from her pay between 2004 and 2015 so it could be invested in a 401(k) plan, but that the money wasn't deposited into the fund. Promised employer-matched contributions of about $10,000 also never were deposited in Pochowicz's fund, the suit claims. The lawsuit says all but $7,500 of those funds reportedly was put back into Pochowicz's account, but the lawsuit seeks return of all the money deducted from Pochowicz's paychecks, employer contributions, estimated earnings and penalties.
A former office worker for the FBI, Pochowicz and her husband, Fred, moved to Wheaton in 1982. She found an office job with the Denson family's trophy and awards business.
"I ended up doing sales," Pochowicz said, recalling how she worked trade shows at McCormick Place in Chicago. Willing to work nights and weekends, Pochowicz said the Denson family eventually shifted her to work in their medical equipment and uniform businesses and the pharmacy.
"I always worked Saturday," said Pochowicz, who said she regularly worked more than 40 hours a week in the Denson family business. "We were treated like family. We were very, very close."
Denson Shops started the current 401(k) program in 2002, according to the lawsuit. An hourly employee who topped out at $14.95 an hour, Pochowicz said she made more than $50,000 one year before her employer made her a salaried employee. Working roughly the same hours, Pochowicz made $37,934 in 2014. She said she always contributed 10 percent to her retirement plan. She said the problems began in March 2015 when Pochowicz, then 65, wanted to find out how much money she had for retirement.
"We need a new driveway, maybe new windows, maybe train trips because that's what my husband likes," Pochowicz said, noting that her husband of nearly 44 years uses a walker and has other health issues because of Parkinson's disease, but still wants to travel.
After three months and two letters requesting her 401(k) information, Pochowicz said she got an email on a Saturday in June saying her employment had been terminated. She recently found part-time work at another pharmacy.
According to one 2014 IRS document filed by Denson Shops and provide by Pochowicz's attorneys, the company reported no 401(k) contributions by participants, but Pochowicz shows pay stubs and a W-2 showing she contributed $3,793 to her 401(k) that year.
"Luckily, I had all the paychecks because we broke the shredder," Pochowicz said. She showed the evidence to her son Jeffrey Pochowicz, a lawyer, who helped compile the legal case.
"There's a lot of anguish over this. It's earth-shattering because I never, ever, ever would have expected this," Mary Lou Pochowicz said. "I need to know what's happening. Where is my money?"