Defined benefit plans are qualified pension plans that define benefits on the basis of a formula defined in the plan. The benefit formula is generally based on factors such as years of service, pay and/or age. It should be noted that in addition to the third and seventh circuits, the second, sixth and ninth circles have expanded the doctrine of succession responsibility in the ERISA contexts. For example, in the stuttering division of Graduate Plastics Co. Inc. v. District 65, United Auto Workers, 991 F.2d 997 (2nd Cir. 1993), the Second Circuit found that an asset purchaser could be held liable for an unpaid contributions from a predecessor to a multi-employer plan under the current collective agreement and a former arbitrator`s decision to do so. For these reasons, it is important to draw the attention of transaction bargaining officials to the importance of keeping the buyer`s staff and legal counsel for the employee`s benefits informed of changes to the structure of a transaction. Late changes to the structure of the agreement may warrant additional due diligence and revised replacements.

In Unicorn, the Third Circuit relied on the analysis of the seventh circuit at the centre of the Int`l Union v retreat. Pontiac Art Furniture, 920 F.2d 1323 (7. Cir. 1990) (by asserting that an asset buyer may be held liable for a seller`s defective contributions in several employer tarpaulins to justify important federal directives if the buyer had noticed the liability prior to the sale and there was sufficient evidence of business continuity between the companies). In Unicorn Also, the third circle found that a central objective underlying ErISA was the protection of plan participants and their beneficiaries; whereas Congress has put in place a strong policy to provide ERISA funds to delinquent contributors, to a degree that goes beyond what goes beyond the common law of contracts; and that a number of beneficiaries of the plan were harmed by the non-payment of contributions in an asset sale that had been lucrative for Ruberton`s operations. The Third Arrondissement also pointed out that, without the imposition of inheritance liability, other employers would be forced to make criminal contributions to ensure that members receive their benefits, and „the requirement for dismissal and the successor`s ability to protect himself during negotiations would be deterred from thinking that the imposition of successive liability could discourage business transactions.“ See Unicorn at 11 a.m. For this reason, purchasers should take steps to protect their interests through due diligence with respect to union-negotiated benefits, retirees` medical retirement plans and executive retirement plans. In addition, purchasers should negotiate compensation provisions to address unpaid debts for these types of plans. As some of these boards show, there are situations where employee performance plans should be taken into account when deciding whether an acquisition opportunity or an acquisition should be structured. It is important for a buyer to exercise caution when dealing with these situations. In many cases of estate liability, this is a liability for withdrawal as part of a multi-employer work plan or contributions that the seller should have paid under a collective agreement taken over by the purchaser.

However, other cases indicate that a buyer may also be subject to inheritance liability for retirees` medical plans. See Grimm v. Healthmont, Inc., 2002 WL 31459095 (D. Or., 2002) (extended legal responsibility for union medical benefits for retirees for the purchaser of assets). In addition, the courts have established that asset purchasers could be liable for debts under executive retirement plans. See Brend v. Sames Corp, 2002 WL 1488877 (N.D. III.

2002). Both workers` allowance lawyers and purchasers are concerned about whether, in the future, inheritance liability will be extended to other types of benefit plans