Ninth Circuit Orders $44 Million Tacoma Pension Claim Recalculated at 7% Rate
Updated
Updated · Jackson Lewis · Aug 12
Ninth Circuit Orders $44 Million Tacoma Pension Claim Recalculated at 7% Rate
1 articles · Updated · Jackson Lewis · Aug 12
Summary
$44 million in withdrawal liability assessed against Tacoma must be recalculated after the Ninth Circuit upheld an arbitrator’s order requiring the Western Metal Industry Pension Fund to use a 7% rate.
The court said the fund’s 2.53% PBGC annuity rate was improper because ERISA requires assumptions to reflect the actuary’s best estimate of anticipated plan experience.
The unpublished ruling also backed using the fund’s funding rate for the redo, avoiding a remand to the actuary, but denied Tacoma’s request for attorney’s fees and costs.
The decision reinforces the Ninth Circuit’s 2022 GCIU precedent against PBGC-based withdrawal-liability calculations while underscoring how costly and difficult such employer challenges remain.