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
Takeaway Related Links Article The Third Circuit’s recent ruling enhanced a pension fund’s ability to pursue withdrawal liability collection against affiliated employers. The decision underscores the evolving nature of ERISA,...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
On April 24, 2025, the Seventh Circuit upheld a Northern District of Illinois decision requiring a multiemployer pension plan to exclude the employers’ post-2014 rehabilitation plan contribution rate increases from the...more
A recent case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Local No. 499, Board of Trustees of Shopmen's Pension Plan v. Art Iron, Inc., et al., 177 F. 4th 923 (6th Cir. 2024), clarifies a significant legal...more
A bankruptcy court in Delaware recently upheld rules issued by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) that severely impact how liability is calculated for employers withdrawing from multiemployer pension plans...more
“Withdrawal liability” blindsides many employers when they stop contributing to collectively bargained pension plans. Multiemployer plans have used different calculations for years that inflate the withdrawal liability they...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
In a rare victory for employers that participate in multiemployer pension plans, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the interest rate memorialized in the Segal Blend actuarial assumption was inappropriate to use in...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 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has issued an interim final rule implementing the special financial assistance provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act to assist financially troubled multiemployer pension plans....more
As we previously reported, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) created a special financial assistance program that is administered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) and intended to extend the...more
Multiemployer pension plans are collectively bargained defined-benefit employee benefit plans that are funded by several unrelated employers for the benefit of unionized employees. In recent years, the crisis of significantly...more