Concrete Pipe & Products of Cal., Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern Cal., 508 U.S. 602, 10 (1993)

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Cite as: 508 U. S. 602 (1993)

Opinion of the Court

"[T]he date of a complete withdrawal is the date of the cessation of the obligation to contribute or the cessation of covered operations." § 1383(e).

The statute provides that if an employer objects after notice and demand for withdrawal liability, and the parties cannot resolve the dispute, § 1399(b)(2), it shall be referred to arbitration. See § 1401(a)(1). Two presumptions may attend the arbitration. First, "any determination made by a plan sponsor under [29 U. S. C. §§ 1381-1399 and 1405 (1988 ed. and Supp. III)] is presumed correct unless the party contesting the determination shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the determination was unreasonable or clearly erroneous." 29 U. S. C. § 1401(a)(3)(A). Second, the sponsor's calculation of a plan's unfunded vested benefits

"is presumed correct unless a party contesting the determination shows by a preponderance of evidence that— "(i) the actuarial assumptions and methods used in the determination were, in the aggregate, unreasonable (taking into account the experience of the plan and reasonable expectations), or "(ii) the plan's actuary made a significant error in applying the actuarial assumptions or methods." § 1401(a) (3)(B).

The statute provides for judicial review of the arbitrator's decision by an action in the district court to enforce, vacate, or modify the award. See § 1401(b)(2). In any such action "there shall be a presumption, rebuttable only by a clear preponderance of the evidence, that the findings of fact made by the arbitrator were correct." § 1401(c).

II

The parties to the Trust Agreement creating the Plan in 1962 are the Southern California District Council of Laborers (Laborers) and three associations of contractors, the

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