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ARTICLE · 21 MAY 2026

ERISA Withdrawal Liability: SCOTUS Decision On Narrow Issue Upholds Retroactive Assumption Changes

Jackson Lewis P.C.
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Resolving a circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court in M & K Employee Solutions held that actuarial assumptions used to calculate withdrawal liability may be selected after the measurement date.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Robert R. Perry
Robert R. Perry
David M. Pixley
David M. Pixley
Hunter Cyran
Hunter Cyran

Takeaways

  • Resolving a circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court in M & K Employee Solutions held that actuarial assumptions used to calculate withdrawal liability may be selected after the measurement date.
  • The Court reasoned that actuarial assumptions are forward-looking “predictive judgments,” and ERISA does not impose a deadline requiring them to be set before the measurement date.
  • The decision’s practical effect is narrow, and employers still retain the ability to challenge assumptions.

Article

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled multiemployer pension plan actuaries can retroactively change assumptions underlying their withdrawal liability calculations. M & K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, No. 23-1209 (May 21, 2026).

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