A multiemployer plan that prevails in an action to collect delinquent contributions or withdrawal liability is statutorily entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs “of the action.” In International Painters &...more
A federal district court in Illinois became the first court to rule that an employer’s credit for a prior partial withdrawal should be applied at the end of the statute’s “waterfall” for calculating withdrawal liability. The...more
We recently reported on a district court decision holding that the Central States Pension Fund’s calculation of withdrawal liability should not have included contribution rate increases imposed after the Fund’s implementation...more
5/12/2025
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
ERISA Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Withdrawal Liability
In Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Sheets Enterprise, No. 24 cv 2277 (N.D. Ill.), a district court held that an employer could not avoid being held liable for withdrawal liability simply because it...more
4/23/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Business Entities ,
Dissolution ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Jurisdiction ,
Pensions ,
Preemption ,
Statute of Limitations
In Central States, S.E. & S.W. Pension Fund v. McKesson Corp., No. 23-cv-16770, 2025 WL 81358 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 13, 2025), the district court affirmed that a multiemployer pension plan’s calculation of withdrawal liability...more
Multiemployer benefit plans generally require contributing employers to submit “remittance reports” that identify the employees that performed covered work, the type of work performed, and the amount of time worked. Plans...more
1/27/2025
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Compliance ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Pensions ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retirement Plan ,
Unions
Under 29 U.S.C. § 1301(b)(1), all “trades or businesses” under common control with an employer that has withdrawn from a multiemployer pension plan are jointly and severally liable for the employer’s withdrawal liability. ...more
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
6/13/2024
/ Article III ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pensions ,
Standing ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Unions ,
Withdrawal Liability
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
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
Editor’s Overview -
Of course, on the top of everyone’s minds these days is COVID-19. In this edition of Proskauer’s ERISA Newsletter, our colleagues discuss some of the legislation and guidance that has been issued over...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a withdrawal liability decision of which both multiemployer pension plans and their contributing employers should be aware. Specifically, in National Retirement Fund v. Metz...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
10/11/2019
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ,
Pensions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Withdrawal Liability
The Fifth Circuit concluded that a plan’s three-year contractual limitations period began to accrue when a beneficiary received a letter in 2008 that prominently displayed on the first page the monthly earnings used to...more
A New York federal district court concluded that a defined benefit plan participant lacked standing to seek relief on behalf of plans other than the one in which he was a participant. In this case, plaintiff claimed that...more
Editor's Overview -
We often talk about the importance of evaluating whether there are any procedural obstacles to plaintiffs pursuing their ERISA claims, particularly in complex, class actions where it may not be...more
4/3/2019
/ Administrative Remedies ,
Article III ,
Breach of Duty ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Discovery ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Harm ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
IRS ,
Notice Requirements ,
Standard of Review ,
Standing
The Second Circuit held that plaintiffs’ allegations that the defendant suffered from a “categorical potential conflict of interest”—because it both funded the plan and was the claim’s decision-maker—did not affect the...more
A federal district court in Illinois held that participants in a multiemployer pension plan failed to plausibly allege that plan fiduciaries retaliated against them in violation of ERISA § 510 by refusing to consider their...more
As we closed the door on 2018, we were met by two surprising decisions—one from a panel of the Second Circuit addressing employer stock drop litigation, and one from a federal district court in Texas declaring the entire...more
1/11/2019
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Amgen v Harris ,
Breach of Duty ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Health Insurance ,
IRS ,
Plan Administrators ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Section 409A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The Ninth Circuit unanimously concluded that a trustee and lawyer for certain multiemployer funds violated ERISA § 510 by unlawfully firing a whistleblower in the funds’ collections department, but, in a split decision,...more
12/28/2018
/ Board of Trustees ,
Breach of Duty ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Retaliation ,
Section 404 ,
Section 510 ,
Unions ,
Whistleblowers
As we head into the thick of summer, all eyes are on President Trump's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy and the impact the new Justice will have on shaping the law for...more
7/11/2018
/ 21st Century Cures Act ,
401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Beneficiaries ,
Bi-Partison Balanced Budget Act (BBA) ,
Breach of Duty ,
Clawbacks ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
HDHP ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
IRS ,
MHPAEA ,
Murder ,
Plan Administrators ,
Preemption ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Slayer Statutes
The Ninth Circuit held that employer contributions due to a Taft Hartley fund are not plan assets until they are actually paid to the fund, irrespective of whether the plan document defines plan assets to include unpaid...more
Despite the change in seasons, there appears to be no change in the pace of complex and class action ERISA litigation. Investments in defined contribution plans—both 401(k) and 403(b) plans—continue to be the leading target...more
4/11/2018
/ 401k ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Bi-Partison Balanced Budget Act (BBA) ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Cadillac Tax ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Excessive Fees ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ,
Mutual Funds ,
National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) ,
Retirement Plan ,
Self-Dealing ,
Standing
A Third Circuit decision, Sikora v. UPMC, 876 F.3d 110 (3d Cir. 2017), deepens a circuit split over whether a participant’s bargaining power is relevant to determining whether a plan qualifies for “top hat” status under...more
2/23/2018
/ Bargaining Power ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Former Employee ,
Funding Requirements ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Retirement Plan ,
Vesting
Editor's Overview -
Welcome once again to Proskauer's newly revamped ERISA Newsletter. As a reminder, readers can obtain the information in this Newsletter as it is published on our blog.
Our featured article this...more
7/7/2017
/ 401k ,
American Health Care Act (AHCA) ,
Church Plans ,
Class Action ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Hospitals ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
MHPAEA ,
Pension Funds ,
Preemption ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Request For Information ,
Split of Authority ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Summary Plan Description ,
Taft-Hartley Plan Trustees ,
Trustees