News & Analysis as of

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Withdrawal Liability

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Withdrawal Liability Notice and Demand in Multiemployer Plans: Interpreting ‘As Soon as Practicable’ for Funds and Employers

A recent ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit serves provides a valuable reminder for multiemployer pension funds and contributing employers regarding ERISA’s withdrawal liability notice and demand...more

Littler

Third Circuit Holds Multiemployer Pension Fund Claim Cannot Be Enforced due to Unreasonable Delay in Providing Notice of...

Littler on

In July, the Third Circuit upheld a District of New Jersey decision to throw out a withdrawal liability assessment, finding the multiemployer pension fund was barred from pursuing its claim because the fund unreasonably...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

The End of Chevron Deference and the Anticipated Impact on Withdrawal Liability

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned the decades-old Chevron doctrine of judicial deference to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute. (See “Go Fish! U.S. Supreme Court Overturns ‘Chevron Deference’...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

District Court Holds Plan Cannot File Suit in Contravention of Trust Agreement

In Buckner v. Murray, No. 21-cv-567, 2024 WL 1366785 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2024), the court dismissed the United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan’s suit to collect $6.5 billion in withdrawal liability because the trustees...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Case Alert: Court Holds that “There is No Third Element for ERISA Successor Liability.”

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

Successor liability is a powerful collection tool for multiemployer plans under ERISA. It most commonly arises in the context of asset sales (although it is not limited to that situation)....more

Littler

Illinois Federal Court Holds that a Pension Rehabilitation Plan Fund Used an Improper High-Contribution Rate in Withdrawal...

Littler on

On March 29, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued its decision in Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Event Media, Inc. In a matter of first impression for...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Seventh Circuit Holds Withdrawal Liability Cannot Be Based on Extra-Contractual Contributions

In Bulk Transp. v. Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund, No. 23-1563, 2024 WL 1230236 (7th Cir. Mar. 22, 2024), the Seventh Circuit held that the contributions used to calculate an employer’s withdrawal liability may include...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Seventh Circuit Orders Pension Fund to Return Withdrawal Liability to Employer

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

An employer can contest a withdrawal liability assessment and ultimately prevail. That is the moral of Bulk Transport Corp. v. Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Fund, No. 23-1563 (7th Cir. Mar. 22, 2024). Withdrawal...more

Littler

D.C. Circuit Breaks from Second Circuit, Finds Pension Fund May Retroactively Change Its Interest Rate Assumptions

Littler on

On February 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in Trustees of IAM Nat'l Pension Fund v. M & K Emp. Sols., LLC, No. 22-7157 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 9, 2024), affirming the district court’s...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

Pre-Petition Settlement Agreement Not an Assumable, Assignable, Executory Contract

In Svenhard’s Swedish Bakery v. United States Bakery, Bk. No. 19-15277, 2023 WL 5541420 (9th Cir. Aug. 29, 2023), the Ninth Circuit held that a settlement agreement that resolved an employer’s withdrawal liability to a...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Building and Construction Industry Exemption: Tool to Contest Withdrawal Liability

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1974 (MPPAA) was enacted purposefully by Congress to seize moneys from contributing employers to fund multiemployer defined benefit pension funds regardless of the employers’...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Impact of Critical Withdrawal Liability Interest Rate Assumption on Construction Industry Employers

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Withdrawal liability is a major concern for many employers with collectively bargained operations. While special rules applicable to the construction industry can limit the circumstances under which liability can be imposed,...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

PBGC Issues Proposed Regulation for Multiemployer Plan Withdrawal Liability Assumptions

On October 14, 2022 the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) published a proposed regulation regarding the interest rates that multiemployer pension plan actuaries use when calculating the present value of plans’...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

PBGC Addresses Withdrawal Liability Assumptions For First Time In New Proposed Rule

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: On October 14, 2022, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) published its proposed rule under ERISA Section 4213 (the “Proposed Rule”), which sets forth for the first time the agency’s guidance...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

PBGC Proposes Rule Change for Withdrawal Liability Discount Rates

Fox Rothschild LLP on

In an apparent effort to resolve uncertainty caused by court rulings, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has proposed that actuaries of multiemployer pension plans should be allowed to use any interest rate for...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Withdrawal Liability and The Building and Construction Industry Exception

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Withdrawal liability is a statutory obligation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that any unionized employer may have to confront. Exemptions from liability include one applicable to construction...more

Littler

D.C. Circuit Holds Withdrawal Liability Interest Rate Must Reflect Plan’s Investment Policy

Littler on

On Friday, July 8, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its decision in United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan v. Energy West Mining Company, joining the Sixth Circuit in holding that the...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

More Bad News For Employers In The PBGC Final Rule

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The recently published final regulation implementing last year’s massive multiemployer pension plan bailout contains a very thin silver lining, but overall, more bad news for already overburdened employers....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Withdrawal Liability Interest Rate Must Reflect Projected Investment Return, D.C. Circuit Holds

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), as amended by the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA), a company incurs withdrawal liability when it withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Don’t White-Knuckle Withdrawal Liability

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

It’s no secret that the statutory deck under ERISA is stacked heavily in favor of multiemployer pension plans (MEPPs) and against employers contributing to (or withdrawing from) Taft-Hartley trust funds....more

Littler

Second Circuit Finds No Successor Liability for ERISA Withdrawal Where Employer Did Not Acquire Unionized Facility or Employees

Littler on

On January 27, 2022, in New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund v. C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., the Second Circuit joined the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits in applying the doctrine of successor...more

Bodman

Sixth Circuit Addresses Actuarial Assumptions Regarding Withdrawal Liability

Bodman on

In Sofco Erectors, Inc. v. Trustees of the Ohio Operating Engineers Pension Fund (“Sofco”) (September, 28, 2021), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a long awaited decision regarding the appropriateness of interest...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Federal Appellate Ruling on the Segal Blend May Change Calculation of Pension Fund Withdrawal Liability

Fox Rothschild LLP on

In a highly anticipated and thorough opinion, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that use of the Segal Blend by a multiemployer pension plan (MEPP) in calculating an employer’s withdrawal liability violated ERISA. ...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

‘Segal Blend’ Withdrawal Liability Calculation Violates ERISA, Court Holds in Milestone Decision

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The use of the “Segal Blend” to calculate a company’s withdrawal liability when it withdrew from a multiemployer pension plan violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), as amended by the Multiemployer...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Sixth Circuit Weighs In on Multiemployer Plan Withdrawal Liability Assumptions

On September 28, 2021, in Sofco Erectors v. Trustees of the Ohio Operating Engineers Pension Fund, No. 20-3639/3671, 2021 BL 367718 (6th Cir. Sept. 28, 2021), the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued the first major appeals...more

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