The impact of COVID-19 is yet to be fully realized, and many companies are yet to consider restructuring as a means to survive the pandemic, but all companies and all creditors can benefit now from learning how employee matters are treated in a bankruptcy proceeding under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (as amended, the Bankruptcy Code). This blog provides a high-level overview of some of the most material matters affecting an employee workforce in the context of a chapter 11 restructuring.

Overnight Income Doesn't Float ERISA Plan's Boat.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) filed an objection on June 14, 2012, in the Delaware bankruptcy court proceedings of RG Steel ("Debtor"), challenging a recent sale by RG Steel's parent entity ("Parent") of a 25-percent ownership stake in the Debtor. If the sale is respected, Parent would fall outside of the Debtor's "controlled group" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), with the result that Parent may cease to have joint liability for the Debtor's unfunded pension obligations.

The ability of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to sell assets of the bankruptcy estate "free and clear" of "any interest" in the property asserted by a non-debtor is an important tool designed to maximize the value of the estate for the benefit of all stakeholders. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California recently examined whether such interests include "successor liability" claims that might otherwise be asserted against the purchaser of a debtor's assets. In In re Catalina Sea Ranch, LLC, 2020 WL 1900308 (Bankr. C.D. Cal.