"[T]he court found that the lower court had erred in not permitting Yellow to amend its complaint adequately.... The Tenth Circuit's ruling specifically pointed out that Yellow's amended complaint successfully demonstrated that the Teamsters had essentially repudiated their duties under the collective bargaining agreement. Thus, Yellow was exempt from exhausting all grievance procedures that would typically be required in contract disputes." [Yellow Corp. v. Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters, No. 24-3411 (10th Cir. Nov. 5, 2025)] MORE >>
31 pages. "Three key themes from the survey: [1] Taft-Hartley plans face many challenges and competing priorities that go beyond simply meeting their investment goals.... [2] Plan sponsors recognize the need for educating their boards' trustees, but too few are taking action -- and participant education poses challenges of its own.... [3] Taft-Hartley plans continue to see the value in alternatives and expect to increase their allocations." MORE >>
"If the Supreme Court sides with the Second Circuit, ... withdrawal liability estimates requested by and provided to employers prior to their withdrawal will be more reliable estimates of the actual withdrawal liability.... If, however, the court sides with the D.C. Circuit ... withdrawal liability estimates will be arguably unreliable for purposes of estimating the actual withdrawal liability, making it more difficult to plan for withdrawal liability in the same manner as an employer does any other corporate liability." [M&K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 22-7157 (D.C. Cir Feb. 9, 2024; cert. pet. granted Jun. 30, 2025 No. 23-1209)] MORE >>
"Plans with higher Pension Protection Act funded percentages tend to be in the green zone, but that isn't always the case.... The median burn rate for C&D plans is more than twice that of red-zone plans. For SFA recipient plans, the median inactive-to-active ratio is much higher than for other plans, including C&D plans." MORE >>
"The court held that the private equity fund was under 'common control' with the portfolio companies because it owned a 95% interest in them, and that the fund was a 'trade or business' under the standard set forth in Sun Capital I as a result of it actively managing the portfolio companies. The court declined, however, to hold the private equity fund's general partner or management company liable, concluding that under the standard set forth in Sun Capital II, they did not comprise a partnership-in-fact with the private equity fund or the withdrawing employers such that they could be deemed part of their controlled group." [Longroad Asset Management LLC v. Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust, No. 23-0738 (W.D. Mo. Aug. 19, 2025)] MORE >>
"In the first withdrawal liability case to reach the Supreme Court in more than three decades, the Court will consider a narrow, but consequential, statutory question ... The answer will determine whether multiemployer pension plans have the flexibility to update actuarial assumptions after year end or whether those assumptions must be fixed at the close of the prior plan year, which provides more certainty to withdrawing employers." [M & K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 22-7157 (D.C. Cir Feb. 9, 2024; cert. pet. granted Jun. 30, 2025 No. 23-1209)] MORE >>
"A recent Eleventh Circuit decision opens up a route for overturning the appellate court's strictest-in-the-nation precedent requiring administrative exhaustion of all claims brought under [ERISA], ... given that two judges in a panel concurrence advocated for such action following en banc review." [Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Corp. of Am., Inc., No. 24-10084 (11th Cir. Oct. 15, 2025)] MORE >>
"[C]reativity in arguing for a reduction of withdrawal liability, followed with any luck by settlement negotiations, is typically an employer's best bet for reducing withdrawal liability. As the Seventh Circuit's new decision reflects, taking on the statute and its requirements directly is typically not all that effective of a tactic." [SuperValu, Inc. v. United Food & Com. Workers Unions & Emps. Midwest Pension Fund, No. 24-2486 (7th Cir. Oct. 9, 2025)] MORE >>
"The Seventh Circuit rejected SuperValu’s contention that the MPPAA required a fund to “deduct contribution units for asset sales qualifying under safe-harbor § 4204 for the full ten-year lookback period.” In fact, the court observed that the MPPAA’s payment-schedule statute does not refer to the safe-harbor statute at all, and thus SuperValu could not smuggle those provisions in to reduce its payments." [SuperValu, Inc. v. United Food & Com. Workers Unions & Emps. Midwest Pension Fund, No. 24-2486 (7th Cir. Oct. 9, 2025)] MORE >>
"This decision confirms that the government may authorize reductions in multiemployer pension benefits under ERISA in response to plan insolvency risks, without triggering takings liability." [King v. U.S., No. 23-1956 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 18, 2025)] MORE >>
"The court sided with the pension fund and granted its motion to strike the jury demand. The court reasoned that because the pension fund's veil-piercing and evade-or-avoid theories are methods for enforcing withdrawal liability, and because there is no right to a jury trial in a withdrawal liability action, the trial should proceed as a bench trial." [Board of Trustees of the PAMCAH-UA Local 675 Pension Fund v. SMAC Hawaii, Inc., No. 23-0076 (D. Haw. Sept. 30, 2025) MORE >>
"[T]the Eleventh Circuit affirmed that an employer's credit for a prior partial withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan must be applied at the second step of the four-step statutory process for calculating withdrawal liability.... The PBGC and a district court in Illinois have concluded that the credit should be applied at the last step of the process, while the Ninth and now the Eleventh Circuits have held that it should be applied at the second step." [Perfection Bakeries Inc. v. Retail Wholesale & Dep't Store Int'l Union & Indus. Pension Fund, No. 23-12533 (11th Cir. Aug. 1, 2025)] MORE >>
"The appellate court agreed with the bankruptcy court that the relevant language in MPPAA permitted the two plans to enforce their contract with Yellow and demand liability at the contractually-bargained-for rate, despite that rate being higher than Yellow's actual contributions at the time." [In re Yellow Corp., No. 25-1421 (3d Cir. Sep. 16, 2025)] MORE >>
"The district court had found the term 'hours paid' in the CBAs ambiguous and, after reviewing extrinsic evidence, concluded that overtime hours should be credited at a premium rate for contribution purposes. On appeal, however, the Third Circuit held that the agreements unambiguously tied contributions to actual compensated hours, not to the higher wage rates paid for overtime, and reversed the lower court's ruling." [Board of Trustees Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union No 74 Pension Fund, et al. v. Jones Lang Lasalle Americas Inc., No. 23-2202 (3d Cir. Sept. 19, 2025; unpub.)] MORE >>
"[T]he Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed whether a bankrupt employer could assume and assign a settlement agreement that significantly reduced its withdrawal liability to an ERISA-governed pension plan. The court ultimately held that the agreement constituted a 'financial accommodation' under the Bankruptcy Code and therefore could not be assumed or assigned in bankruptcy." [In re Svenhard's Swedish Bakery, No. 23-60045 (9th Cir. Sept. 12, 2025)] MORE >>
"The Third Circuit’s decision resolves critical questions regarding the treatment of tens of billions of dollars in SFA, and provides both employers and plans with some flexibility to deviate from ERISA’s default rules regarding withdrawal liability." [In re Yellow Corp., No. 25-1421 (3d Cir. Sep. 16, 2025)] MORE >>
"This decision ... is arguably the first time a district court applied the 'investment plus' and 'partnership-in-fact' tests for determining potential withdrawal liability in the private equity context since the First Circuit issued its rulings in Sun Capital ... in 2013 and 2019." [Longroad Asset Management LLC v. Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust, No. 23-0738 (W.D. Mo. Aug. 19, 2025)] MORE >>
"The Supreme Court of the United States will decide how pension plans must set the interest rate assumptions used to calculate how much an employer owes if it withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan. The outcome will likely affect employers' timing considerations regarding withdrawal from their multiemployer pension plans, as the differences could amount to millions of dollars, depending on the Court's decision." [M & KEmployeeSolutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund,No. 22-7157(D.C. Cir Feb. 9, 2024;cert. pet. granted Jun. 30, 2025 No. 23-1209)]MORE >>
"The Third Circuit affirmed the Bankruptcy Court's order in full: [1] PBGC's Phase-In and No-Receivables Regulations were valid exercises of authority under ARPA and not arbitrary or capricious under the APA. [2] The major questions doctrine did not apply, because Congress clearly delegated authority to PBGC regarding special financial assistance and withdrawal liability. [3] Yellow's contractual agreements with two pension funds to pay withdrawal liability at 100% contribution rates were enforceable, as the MPPAA sets a liability floor but does not prevent employers from agreeing to higher obligations." [In re Yellow Corp., No. 25-1421 (3d Cir. Sep. 16, 2025)] MORE >>
"The Sixth Circuit held that the Operators Local 324 Pension Fund did not comply with ERISA by using the [PBGC] rate of 2.27% as its discount rate given that the fund's best estimate that the rate of return on investments would be 7.75%.... The court held that the actuary did not use their best estimate of the discount rate but stopped short of mandating use of a rate equivalent to the best estimate of rate of return.' [Ace-Saginaw Paving Co. v. Operating Eng"rs Loc. 324 Pension Fund, Nos. 24-1288, 24-1305 (6th Cir. Aug. 6, 2025)] MORE >>
"Despite recent guidance, the status of private equity firms and their affiliates as 'employers' for purposes of withdrawal liability remains unsettled. Approaches adopted by courts vary, and the difference could result in exposure for significant withdrawal liability incurred by a portfolio company. Private equity funds that acquire a controlling interest in a portfolio company with unionized operations should exercise particular caution[.]" MORE >>
"The court's review will be limited to one question: Must the plan use the actuarial assumptions most recently adopted before the 'measurement date' for determining withdrawal liability, or can the plan use assumptions adopted after the measurement date based on information that was available as of that date? The decision may have a significant effect on the calculation of withdrawal liability for all multiemployer plans across the country." [M & K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 22-7157 (D.C. Cir Feb. 9, 2024; cert. pet. granted Jun. 30, 2025 No. 23-1209)]MORE >>
"This article discusses considerations for trustees of plans that have received SFA: [1] Rehabilitation plan updates; [2] Investment strategy; [3] Actuarial assumptions review; [4] Accrual rate increases; [5] Variable benefit designs; [6] New employer engagement; [7] Small benefit cash-outs; [8] Plan mergers." MORE >>
"The 6th Circuit held that the fund didn't use its best estimate of the discount rate by using the [PBGC's] rate of 2.27%, despite the fact that the fund estimated the rate of return on investments would be 7.75%.... [T]he fund's actuary acknowledged his method of calculating withdrawal would overestimate withdrawal liability 77% to 95% of the time. The court held that the actuary didn't use his best estimate of the discount rate but stopped short of mandating use of a rate equivalent to the best estimate of rate of return." [Ace-Saginaw Paving Co. v. Operating Eng'rs Loc. 324 Pension Fund, Nos. 24-1288, 24-1305 (6th Cir. Aug. 6, 2025)] MORE >>
