Blank Rome Represents CSAV in Unprecedented Case Victory against the NYSA-ILA Pension Trust Fund
A Blank Rome team successfully represented CSAV, a Chilean shipping company that is one of the oldest shipping companies in the world and, currently, one of the largest in Latin America, in an unprecedented case victory against the NYSA-ILA Pension Trust Fund.
In 2014, CSAV transferred its container liner service to a competitor, Hapag Lloyd, in exchange for an ownership interest in Hapag Lloyd. The NYSA-ILA Pension Trust Fund, which had been receiving contributions from CSAV for its operations in New York, thereafter notified CSAV that its container liner service sale to Hapag Lloyd was an event triggering "withdrawal liability" under ERISA, and assessed CSAV's withdrawal liability at $11 million.
Blank Rome went on the offensive by demanding arbitration of the Fund and seeking a declaration that CSAV had no liability. After a settlement of CSAV’s quarterly payment obligation limiting the payment for the period of one year to one reduced quarterly payment, and a few conferences before the arbitrator, the Fund completely capitulated and settled the total claim for $30,000, with the balance of the quarterly payment made refunded within seven days with interest, resulting in a net recovery by the Fund of less than $20,000. For more information, please visit www.csav.com.