Owners, Successor Held Liable for ERISA Withdrawal Payment

The owners of a Hawaiian sheet metal company and another company they created are jointly liable to the original company’s pension fund for $857, 810 in withdrawal liability, a federal court in Hawaii said.

But the court refused to pierce the corporate veil to also hold the owners’ daughter jointly liable. Questions still exist over the companies’ corporate formalities, Judge Micah W.J. Smith said July 18 for the US District Court for the District of Hawaii.

That original company, SMAC Hawaii Inc., waived its arguments against imposition of withdrawal liability or the calculation of the amount owed by not filing ...