M & K Employee Solutions, LLC, et al., Petitioners v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund

The Supreme Court decided how federal pension law applies when a multiemployer plan calculates what a withdrawing employer owes after leaving the plan. The dispute centered on whether the IAM National Pension Fund properly used long-term projections, including anticipated interest rates and other predictions, to set that amount.

The decision matters to employers that leave multiemployer pension plans and to the workers and retirees those plans support. For example, a company exiting a union pension plan will now measure its payment under the Supreme Court's reading of the law.

Lower courts, arbitrators, pension funds, and employers must now apply the Supreme Court's interpretation in this case and similar disputes. Parties with ongoing or future withdrawal-liability fights will likely review their calculations and challenges under that rule.

The Court resolved how federal pension law applies when a multiemployer plan calculates withdrawal liability. The fight centered on the IAM fund's method for setting that bill.

Employers leaving multiemployer pension plans are directly affected, along with the plans and covered workers. The decision guides how large the exit payment can be.

Lower courts, arbitrators, pension funds, and employers must apply the Supreme Court's interpretation. Similar cases and future calculations will be reviewed under that rule.