Moreover, the Circuit Court found that there was no portion of ERISA which prohibited a fund from putting into place a system for charging withdrawing employers for their share of the accumulated funding deficiency.WestRock had also asserted a cause action under 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1451(a). Section 1451 appears to be a catch-all provision which authorizes an employer to bring an action when it is “…adversely affected by the act or omission of any party under this subtitle with respect to a multi-employer plan…” The Circuit Court found that the “subtitle” noted was Subtitle E which is entitled “Special Provisions for Multiemployer Plans.”

Moreover, the Circuit Court found that there was no portion of ERISA which prohibited a fund from putting into place a system for charging withdrawing employers for their share of the accumulated funding deficiency. WestRock had also asserted a cause action under 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1451(a). Section 1451 appears to be a catch-all provision which authorizes an employer to bring an action when it is “…adversely affected by the act or omission of any party under this subtitle with respect to a multi-employer plan…” The Circuit Court found that the “subtitle” noted was Subtitle E which is entitled “Special Provisions for Multiemployer Plans.”

329 U.S.C. § 1399(c)(3).429 U.S.C. § 1399(c)(5).5MPPAA mandates that claims for unpaid withdrawal liability “may not be brought after the later of (1) 6 years after the date on which the cause of action arose, or (2) 3 years after the earliest date on which the plaintiff acquired or should have acquired actual knowledge of the existence of such cause of action. . . .” 29 U.S.C. § 1451(f).

DiGeronimo filed suit against the Trustees alleging their negligent management of Plan assets caused DiGeronimo harm in the form of increased withdrawal liability. Under ERISA Section 4301(a), 29 U.S.C. § 1451(a), DiGeronimo as an employer is entitled to bring an action for appropriate legal or equitable relief if it is adversely affected by the act or omission of any party under Subtitle E of ERISA (the multiemployer plan provision subtitle) with respect to a multiemployer plan. DiGeronimo and the Trustees agreed that Section 4301 was simply a “standing” provision, and that it conferred no substantive rights.