"The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) has learned that the Department of Labor (DOL) shared confidential information involving at least six employee benefit pension plans with a plaintiffs' attorney.... DOL appears to be working in concert with plaintiffs' attorneys to circumvent the discovery protections of the FRCP by conducting a fishing expedition under the guise of an EBSA investigation and then supplying confidential information to plaintiffs' attorneys for use in private litigation against plan fiduciaries.... EBSA must immediately take steps to protect the confidentiality of information gathered during investigations and to reassure employee benefits plan fiduciaries that their cooperation during investigations will not lead to coercive actions from plaintiffs' attorneys."  MORE >>