Hawaii Pension Fund Gets Partial Win After Exit Liability Trial

A Hawaii pension fund got mixed results in its attempt to collect about $610,000 in withdrawal liability owed by a sheet metal and air conditioning company, according to a federal judge’s post-trial opinion.

Judge Micah W.J. Smith’s Wednesday opinion focused on whether the pension fund could collect from the daughter of the couple that owned and operated SMAC Hawaii Inc. by “piercing the corporate veil” of a separate company owned by the daughter and her mother. The pension fund argued that veil-piercing liability was appropriate because the company—R&M Air Conditioning LLC—was a shell company that didn’t observe corporate formalities, but ...