Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., No. 10-2489 (7th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseAfter selling a subsidiary, the company no longer had employees participating in the multi-employer pension plan and sought to withdraw. The underfunded plan claimed that the company owed about $5 million. An arbitrator determined that the company did not have withdrawal liability. The district court agreed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The plan argued that the company had closed other plants, outsourcing work, so that the sale was not solely responsible for the company not continuing contributions. A company is not liable for withdrawal under 29 U.S.C. 1384 if withdrawal is "solely" because of a bona fide sale. The court stated that there was evidence to support the arbitrator's finding that the sale was not part of a plan by the company to withdraw in stages and that the focus must be the transaction at issue: a sale to an ongoing business that is willing and able to continue contributions.
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