Employer Tab for Exiting Pensions at Stake in High Court Appeal

The US Supreme Court has a fresh chance to review a key penalty calculation with potentially multimillion-dollar consequences for companies leaving union-brokered pension plans.

M&K Employee Solutions Inc. wants the justices to take up an appeals court decision siding with when the IAM National Pension Fund’s actuary calculated how much it had to pay to cover costs as it left the plan. Under federal law, companies withdrawing from a multiemployer pension plan must cover their share of current and future unfunded benefits.

Plan actuaries calculate the amount an exiting employer has to pay, known as withdrawal liability, based on market ...