Multiemployer Pension Plans in Mergers and Acquisitions — Troutman Pepper Podcast
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
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
Unionized employers participating in an underfunded multiemployer pension plan face significant financial exposure when withdrawing (completely or partially) from the plan. The cost (called “withdrawal liability”) is...more
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is now allowing multiemployer pension plans that are applying for special financial assistance (SFA) to request relief from the standard withdrawal liability calculation...more
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
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
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
Under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) as modified by the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (“MPPAA”), an employer who withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan is...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes a modified version of the Butch Lewis Act, referred to as the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (EPPRA), which restores to financial health more than 100 failing...more
On Friday January 8, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) published a final rule that provides multiemployer pension plans with additional methods to help calculate employer withdrawal liability. The rule includes...more
Approximately a quarter of the workforce covered by a traditional pension plan is in a multiemployer plan, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many manufacturers that participate in such plans are unaware their...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant financial impact on business and individuals around the globe, with global financial markets seeing significant drawbacks in March 2020 alone. That impact has also been felt by U.S....more
The effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on businesses and individuals is unprecedented and staggering. Many employers have or soon will be forced to implement some type of COVID-19-related workforce reduction, which can have...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has held in Sun Capital Partners III, LP v. New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund that two Sun Capital Funds were not under common control with Scott Brass...more
Just before Thanksgiving, the First Circuit Court of Appeals handed a “win” to Sun Capital’s private equity funds which had been battling against multiemployer pension withdrawal liability since the 2008 bankruptcy of the...more
Private equity fund sponsors can breathe a sigh of relief last week as the First Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing a district court finding, held that two separate private equity funds sharing a general partner (Sun Capital...more
If you use union employees in your projects, you may contribute to a multiemployer pension plan—perhaps a few cents or few dollars per hour worked. However, some employers are surprised to learn they could be assessed with...more
In Bauwnes v. Revcon Technology Group, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the trustees of a multiemployer pension plan could not agree to an employer’s installment payment plan of its withdrawal...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that once a multi-employer pension fund accelerates withdrawal liability periodic payments into a lump sum liability, there is no statutory...more
In Trustees of the Suburban Teamsters of Northern Illinois Pension Fund v. The E Company, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Jan. 29, 2019, affirmed a district court’s judgment ordering a group of closely held...more
Non-Enforcement - Amendments to the Venture Capital Fund Adviser and Private Fund Adviser Exemptions - Last month the SEC’s Division of Investment Management issued a guidance update (Update) addressing recent...more
Many multiemployer pension plans are struggling financially today, and, according to the PBGC, about 10 percent of the 1,400 plans are expected to become insolvent within the next 10-15 years. These looming insolvencies were...more
This is the second of two posts regarding the “troubling” state of multi-employer pension plans. My October post provided an overview of the recently published Teamsters’ Central States Pension “Rescue Plan” and discussed...more
Two significant developments in the multi-employer pension world emerged in September, developments which could give manufacturers concern. While this is not the time to panic (we have plenty of time to panic), readers...more
On September 25, the Central States Pension Fund (one of the largest multiemployer/union pension funds in the country) submitted to the U.S. Department of Treasury a proposed “rescue plan,” which would allow the fund to...more