Cite as: 508 U. S. 602 (1993)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
upon a passing reference in petitioner's brief, see ante, at 646, n. 28, to justify issuing this unnecessary statement about a difficult issue that the parties essentially have ignored. I would not decide without adversary briefing and argument whether ERISA's 30% cap might prevent retroactive withdrawal liability above 30% of the employer's net worth for an employer that joined a multiemployer plan after the passage of ERISA but before the passage of the MPPAA. I also note that the Court's opinion should not be read to imply that employers may be subjected to retroactive withdrawal liability simply because "pension plans [have] long been subject to federal regulation." Ante, at 645. Surely the employer that joined a multiemployer plan before ERISA had been promulgated—before Congress had made employers liable for unfunded benefits—might have a strong constitutional challenge to retroactive withdrawal liability. The issue is not presented here—again, petitioner joined the Plan after the passage of ERISA—and the Court does not address it. It remains to be resolved in a future case.
Justice Thomas, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
I join all of the Court's opinion except Part III-B-1—the portion of the opinion in which the Court grapples with the trustee presumption in 29 U. S. C. § 1401(a)(3)(A). The Court finds the presumption "incoherent with respect to the degree of probability of error required of the employer to overcome a factual conclusion made by the plan sponsor." Ante, at 625. And because, in the Court's view, "there would be a substantial question of procedural fairness under the Due Process Clause" if employers had to show that sponsors' findings were unreasonable or clearly erroneous, ante, at 626, the Court proceeds to interpret the statute as if it required an unconstrained evidentiary hearing into "any factual issue" concerning the employer's withdrawal liability, ante, at 630.
649
Page: Index Previous 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007