Consolidated Bus Transit, Inc. v. Local 854 Pension Fund

Background

Defendants Local 854 Pension Fund and the Board of Trustees of the Local 854 Pension Fund, through counsel, submitted a joint request with plaintiffs’ counsel to postpone the action’s initial status conference and related filing deadline. The conference had been scheduled for April 19, 2024, and the parties’ joint letter and proposed case-management plan had been due April 12, 2024.

The letter stated that the main unresolved issue was the method for calculating the amount by which plaintiffs’ pension withdrawal liability should be reduced after the Fund transferred pension assets and liabilities to the Amalgamated Transit Workers Local 854 Pension Fund. The letter also described a related case, Mar-Can Transportation Co., Inc. v. Local 854 Pension Fund, in which Judge Cathy Seibel had granted summary judgment to the plaintiff on that issue on March 22, 2024. The Trustees were evaluating whether to appeal that decision, and the parties said a possible appeal and any decision by the Court of Appeals could affect this case.

Request

The parties requested that the initial status conference be moved to April 30, May 7, or May 8, 2024, and that the joint letter and case-management plan be due one week before the conference. They said postponement would promote efficiency and avoid potentially wasted judicial resources.

Ruling

Judge Ronnie Abrams granted the application. The court adjourned the conference to May 10, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. The court ordered that the parties’ joint status letter and proposed case-management plan be filed one week before the conference. The order addressed scheduling and did not decide the underlying withdrawal-liability dispute.