Cite as: 522 U. S. 192 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
employer had made before withdrawing from the plan. § 1399(c)(1)(C). Interest accrues from the first day of the plan year following withdrawal. See Milwaukee Brewery Workers' Pension Plan, 513 U. S., at 421. Payments can run for a period of up to 20 years, 29 U. S. C. § 1399(c)(1)(B), but the employer may prepay the outstanding principal, plus accrued interest, at any time. § 1399(c)(4).
The Act does not call upon the employer to propose the amount of withdrawal liability. Rather, it places the calculation burden on the plan's trustees. The trustees must set an installment schedule and demand payment "[a]s soon as practicable" after the employer's withdrawal. § 1399(b)(1). On receipt of the trustees' schedule and payment demand, the employer may invoke a dispute-resolution procedure that involves reconsideration by the trustees and, ultimately, arbitration. §§ 1399(b)(2), 1401(a)(1). If no party requests arbitration, the installments become "due and owing" on the trustees' schedule. § 1401(b)(1). Even if the employer challenges the trustees' withdrawal liability determination, however, it still must pay according to the trustees' schedule in the interim under the statute's " 'pay now, dispute later' collection procedure." Robbins v. Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Co., 800 F. 2d 641, 642 (CA7 1986) (per curiam).2
Should the employer fail to pay according to the schedule, the plan may, at its option, invoke a statutory acceleration provision. § 1399(c)(5). It may also sue to collect the unpaid debt. Plan fiduciaries "adversely affected by the act or omission of any party under" the MPPAA are entitled to "bring an action for appropriate legal or equitable relief, or
2 See 29 U. S. C. § 1399(c)(2) ("Withdrawal liability shall be payable in accordance with the schedule set forth by the plan sponsor . . . no later than 60 days after the date of the demand notwithstanding any request for review or appeal of determinations of the amount of such liability or of the schedule."); § 1401(d) (employer must make payments according to the plan's schedule "until the arbitrator issues a final decision with respect to the determination submitted for arbitration").
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