After failed court-ordered mediation, Hostess Brands, Inc. – makers of iconic bakery goods that include Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Wonder Bread – received permission from a bankruptcy court to cease operations and liquidate last week.

So, what does the impending liquidation of Hostess have to do with employee benefits? Well, one of the largest issues facing Hostess has been crippling union pension contributions, which have been reported as high as $1 billion.

After nearly fifteen years of unsuccessful attempts to recover $71 million worth of securitized bonds after the 1990 bankruptcy of Continental Airlines, Inc., Bluebird Partners L.P. may have suffered its final defeat. In a recent decision by a New York trial court in Bluebird Partners v. The Bank of New York, et al., No. 601016/1996 (New York Co. June 7, 2010), the court granted summary judgment to defendant Bank of New York (“BNY”), holding that the bank behaved prudently in establishing a litigation reserve fund as the collateral trustee in the airline’s bankruptcy.