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 had been dissolved under state law.  The decision is instructive because it shows the limits that state

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 should not have included contribution rate increases imposed after the plan had implemented a rehabilitation plan.

Under 29 U.S.C. § 1301(b)(1), all “trades or businesses” under common control with an employer that has withdrawn from a multiemployer pension plan are jointly and severally liable for the employer’s withdrawal liability.  The statute does not define what it means to be a “trade or business,” and though the statute references regulations promulgated by the

When an employer withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan, the plan’s trustees must notify the employer of the amount of its withdrawal liability and demand payment.  Employers assessed with withdrawal liability often argue that the assessment is untimely because the trustees did not send it to the employer “as soon as practicable,” as is required