620
Opinion of the Court
"initial adjudication," id., at 247, n. 9. Likewise here, we conclude that the first adjudication is the proceeding that occurs before the arbitrator, not the trustees' initial determination of liability.12
B
This does not end our enquiry, however, for Concrete Pipe goes on to argue that the statutory presumptions preserve the trustees' bias by limiting the arbitrator's autonomy to determine withdrawal liability, and thereby work to deny the employer a fair adjudication.
1
Under the first provision at issue here, "any determination made by the plan sponsor under [29 U. S. C. §§ 1381-1399 and 1405] 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). Concrete Pipe argues that this presumption denied it an impartial adjudicator on the issue of its withdrawal date, thus raising a constitutional question on which the Courts of Appeals have divided.13
12 "[W]e need not say with precision what limits there may be on a financial or personal interest of one who performs a prosecutorial function," Marshall, 446 U. S., at 250 (footnote omitted), as that issue is not within the scope of the questions on which we granted certiorari in this case.
13 The Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fourth, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuits have found the provision at issue constitutional, while the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has struck it down. Compare Keith Fulton & Sons, Inc. v. New England Teamsters and Trucking Indus. Pension Fund, Inc., 762 F. 2d 1137, 1140-1143 (CA1 1985) (en banc); Board of Trustees of Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund v. Thompson Bldg. Materials, Inc., 749 F. 2d 1396, 1403-1404 (CA9 1984), cert. denied, 471 U. S. 1054 (1985); Washington Star Co. v. International Typographical Union Negotiated Pension Plan, 235 U. S. App. D. C. 1, 10, 729 F. 2d 1502, 1511 (1984); Textile Workers Pension Fund v. Standard Dye & Finishing Co., 725 F. 2d 843, 855 (CA2), cert. denied sub nom. Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co. v. Bakery, Confectionery & Tobacco Workers, 467 U. S. 1259 (1984); and Republic Indus., Inc. v. Teamsters
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