On April 15, 2022, participants in the U.A. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 22 Pension Fund filed a petition for panel and en banc rehearing of the Second Circuit’s ruling in favor of the pension plan’s decision to retroactively require plan participants to choose between either ceasing their post-retirement employment or foregoing early retirement benefits. See
Multiemployer Pension Plans
Don’t White-Knuckle Withdrawal Liability
It’s no secret that the statutory deck under ERISA is stacked heavily in favor of multiemployer pension plans (MEPPs) and against employers contributing to (or withdrawing from) Taft-Hartley trust funds. For example, an employer who receives a demand to pay its alleged allocable share of a multiemployer pension plan’s unfunded vested benefits (Withdrawal Liability) will…
Plan Terms and Tax Rules: What Does “Retire” Mean To Qualify for Retirement Benefits?
In Metzgar v. U.A. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 22 Pension Fund, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 5466 (2d Cir. Mar. 2, 2022), the Second Circuit in a summary order affirmed the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of plan trustees regarding the trustees’ reinterpretation of what “retire” means under the terms of…
Butch Lewis Brings No Good News for Contributing Employers
In the clamor that surrounded the current administration’s adoption of the American Rescue Act of 2021 (ARPA), quietly tucked in as Subtitle H is the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (Butch Lewis). Butch Lewis has been unsuccessfully bouncing around Congress since 2019. While Butch Lewis is long on rhetoric, at this…