Federal Circuits, 3rd Cir. (July 05, 1984)
Docket number: 83-5655
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U.S. Supreme Court - Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489 (1982)
U.S. Supreme Court - Northern Pipeline Constr. Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S. 50 (1982)
U.S. Supreme Court - Nachman Corp. v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 446 U.S. 359 (1980)
U.S. Supreme Court - Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978)
U.S. Supreme Court - Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co., 428 U.S. 1 (1976)
U.S. Supreme Court - Connolly v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 475 U.S. 211 (1986)
John R. Keys, Jr., Chester W. Nosal (argued), Winston & Strawn, Washington, D.C., for appellant.
Bennet D. Zurofsky (argued), Sidney Reitman, Reitman, Pasonnet, Maisel & Duggan, Newark, N.J., for appellee.Peter H. Gould (argued), Terence G. Craig, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae.Before ALDISERT, Chief Judge, and WEIS, and ROSENN, Circuit Judges.OPINION OF THE COURTPER CURIAM.On this appeal from the district court's grant of appellee's motion under Rule 12(b)(6), F.R.Civ.P., seeking dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, plaintiff-appellant, The Terson Company, challenges the constitutionality of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA), 29 U.S.C. Secs . 1381 et seq. We conclude there was no error in the dismissal of Terson's complaint and affirm the judgment of the district court.The Terson Company is engaged in the baking and food processing businesses. In October 1980, Terson sold its facility in East Orange, New Jersey as part of an overall effort to divest itself of its baking operations. The employees at the East Orange facility were represented by defendant Bakery Drivers and Salesmen Local 194. Under the collective bargaining agreements with the Local, Terson was a party to a multiemployer pension plan, which obligated the company to make contributions on behalf of its employees. Terson ceased making contributions to the plan on October 4, 1980 and ended its operations at the plant two weeks later. The Local and the Industry Pension Fund, also a defendant, subsequently demanded that Terson make withdrawal liability payments to the plan pursuant to the MPPAA, enacted on September 26, 1980, and assessed a total withdrawal liability of $835,320.00. Terson filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment that the MPPAA is unconstitutional. It specifically alleged that the Act (1) retroactively impairs its preexisting contractual arrangements in violation of the fifth amendment due process clause, (2) violates the takings clause of the fifth amendment, (3) is unconstitutionally vague, and (4) by requiring arbitration, violates procedural due process guarantees and the seventh amendment right to a jury trial. Terson maintains these allegations on its appeal from the dismissal of its complaint.1Turning first to the argument that the MPPAA impermissibly impairs Terson's preexisting contractual arrangements, we begin by noting that although most of the other courts that have considered this question have reached the same result in upholding the Act, see supra note 1, they have applied different standards in their review of the legislation. The District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the constraints of the contract clause are not applicable to review of federal legislation through the fifth amendment due process clause. Washington Star Co. v. International Typographical Union Negotiated Pension Plan, 729 F.2d 1502, 1507 (D.C.Cir.1984). The D.C. Circuit instead applied the traditional rationality standard of review set forth by the Supreme Court in Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co., 428 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 2882, 49 L.Ed.2d 752 (1976). The Supreme Court articulated the standard:It is by now well established that legislative Acts adjusting the burdens and benefits of economic life come to the Court with a presumption of constitutionality, and that the burden is on one complaining of a due process violation to establish that the legislature has acted in an arbitrary and irrational way.Id. at 15, 96 S.Ct. at 2892 (citations omitted). The Seventh Circuit, in Nachman Corp. v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., 592 F.2d 947 (7th Cir.), cert. denied on constitutional grounds,Try vLex for FREE for 3 days
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