Milwaukee Brewery Workers' Pension Plan v. Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co.

The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA), 94 Stat. 1208, 29 U. S. C. §§1381-1461, provides that an employer who withdraws from an underfunded multi-employer pension plan must pay a charge sufficient to cover that employer’s fair share of the plan’s unfunded liabilities. The statute permits the employer to pay that charge in lump sum or to “amortize” it, making payments over time. This case focuses upon a withdrawing employer who amortizes the charge, and it asks when, for purposes of calculating the amortization schedule, interest begins to accrue on the amortized charge.…