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
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a district court’s decision to vacate and remand an arbitration decision in a case concerning companies’ withdrawal from a retirement fund....more
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
In Holland v. Murray, No. 21-cv-567, 2023 WL 2645708 (D.D.C. Mar. 27, 2023), the court held that financial support provided by Congress to a multiemployer pension plan under the Bipartisan American Miners Act (“BAMA”) did not...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s order confirming an arbitration award under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (the “MPPAA”), noting in...more
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
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
Turning an “American Dream Project” into a nightmare for a New Jersey contractor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held that, under ERISA’s multiemployer pension plan provisions (the Multiemployer Pension...more
The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) progeny, can create significant unexpected liabilities for companies that have agreed to collective bargaining...more
In the clamor that surrounded the current administration’s adoption of the American Rescue Act of 2021 (ARPA), quietly tucked in as Subtitle H is the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (Butch Lewis). Butch...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
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the PBGC) kicked off 2021 by releasing a final rule intended to streamline withdrawal liability calculations for multiemployer plans that are or were in “critical” or “endangered”...more
The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 ("MPPAA") amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") and the Internal Revenue Code to make "trade[s] or business[es]" that are under "common...more
On November 22, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that two separate private equity funds managed by the same general partner/management firm were not liable for the pension fund withdrawal...more
A withdrawing employer must make withdrawal liability installment payments during the pendency of an arbitration proceeding contesting the existence of withdrawal liability, a federal court has affirmed, rejecting the...more
In this edition of our Newsletter, we take a look at a pair of cases that, while unrelated, together remind us of the importance of having clear plan rules in place that reflect the plan sponsor’s intention. The first article...more
Synopsis: A recent decision by the District Court from the Southern District of New York shows why it often makes sense to consider, on a privileged basis, the universe of potential defendants to a withdrawal liability...more
As our earlier article reported, Judge Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had recently held that a multiemployer pension fund’s use of the “Segal Blend” to calculate a withdrawn...more
Given the Ninth Circuit’s recent holding that successor withdrawal liability is governed by a constructive notice standard, private equity companies and other businesses seeking to acquire other enterprises should be...more
The expansion of the multiemployer pension plan successor withdrawal liability doctrine continues for asset purchasers. Establishing a constructive notice standard, the federal appellate court in San Francisco has ruled that...more
In a decision that could have far-reaching implications for multiemployer pension plans and employers, a federal district court has held that the use of the “Segal Blend” to calculate a company’s withdrawal liability when it...more
The district court erred in finding a multiemployer pension plan did not show sufficient continuity of business operations to support imposing successor liability on an asset purchaser, the federal appeals court in Chicago...more
For a multiemployer pension fund to hold an asset purchaser liable for withdrawal liability as a successor-in-interest, the fund must establish that the purchaser was (i) on notice of the seller’s withdrawal liability, and...more
A federal appeals court has handed multiemployer pension plans a blank check to assess increased withdrawal liability against employers exiting a plan. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Westrock RKT...more
In a recent decision involving a withdrawal liability assessment by a multiemployer pension plan, an arbitrator reduced the assessment by approximately 50 percent and ruled in favor of the employer on several significant...more