Delayed Demand Dooms Pension Fund’s Withdrawal Liability Appeal

A pension fund’s 12-year delay in requesting more than $400,000 in withdrawal liability from a departing employer is fatal to its lawsuit seeking to collect the debt, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday.

Federal pension law requires that employers be notified of a claim for withdrawal liability “as soon as practicable” after they withdraw from a fund, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said. It’s undisputed that a 12-year delay doesn’t satisfy this standard, which “ends this matter under the best reading” of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, the court said.

The decision is a loss ...