"[S]everal federal courts of appeal have held that a buyer of assets may be held liable as a successor under federal common law for unpaid ERISA multiemployer plan withdrawal liability or contributions if the buyer had notice of the liability and continued the business of seller with substantial continuity of operations. The PBGC ... asked the court to apply the same doctrine in the termination liability context. Finding that ERISA already imposed a specific statutory scheme for the collection of plan termination liabilities under ERISA, the district court declined to apply federal common law in this case." [PBGC v. Findlay Industries, Inc., No. 15-1421 (N.D. Ohio Dec. 29, 2016)]

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