In a recent brief filed with the Supreme Court, Better Markets urged the court to review a ruling by the 1st Circuit Court that would allow private equity firms to escape liability for pension shortfalls of the companies in which they invest.
Better Markets filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court in support of a petition for certiorari filed in New England Teamsters & Trucking Industry Pension Fund v. Sun Capital Partners III, LP (20-155). The case involves workers of a now-bankrupt company who are seeking to hold two private equity funds that took over the firm accountable for a shortfall in their pension plan.
It’s clear that the two private equity funds are attempting to escape liability based on the claim they didn’t really run the operation, even though the facts clearly show the opposite. Unfortunately, the 1st Circuit bought their argument.
However, the Supreme Court has an opportunity to restore the pension plan benefits of these workers and also “lay down the law and make clear that such attempts by the private equity industry to shirk its duty won’t be tolerated. The Court is expected to rule on the petition soon and decide whether to hear the case on the merits.
