Black v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Issues: (1) Whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act permits the termination of a distressed pension plan through an agreement between Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the plan administrator; (2) whether termination through such an agreement, which avoids a hearing, violates the participants’ constitutional rights to due process; and (3) whether, if ERISA and due process allow for termination by agreement, the termination’s substantive legality is to be judged under the standards in 29 U.S.C. § 1342(c), or whether it is enough that the conditions in Section 1342(a) to “institute” proceedings may exist.