Central States SE and SW Areas Pension Plan v. SCOFBP, LLC,

Under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980, all "trades or businesses" under "common control" are treated as a single employer for purposes of determining withdrawal liability. 29 U.S.C. 1301(b)(1). SCOFBP incurred withdrawal liability for unfunded pension benefits in 2001 when it ceased operations and paying into a union pension fund. The district court held that the solvent MCRI and MCOF, which were part of a complex set of entities and trusts under control of a single businessman (who went through personal bankruptcy in 1999), were both trades or businesses that were under common control with insolvent SCOFBP at the relevant times, so that both are liable for SCOFBP's withdrawal liability. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that MCRI and MCOF were only passive investment vehicles rather than trades or businesses and that the businessman's personal bankruptcy disrupted what had been common control of the three entities.