GE Beats Pension Fund Appeal Seeking $220 Million Exit Payment

General Electric Co. defeated an appeal by a pension fund seeking more than $220 million in withdrawal liability, when the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday said the company qualified for a statutory exemption.

GE doesn’t owe withdrawal liability to the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust because the company’s relevant entities—APCom Power, Alstom Power, Inc., and Atlantic Plant Maintenance—mostly employed workers in the building and construction industry, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said, affirming decisions by both an arbitrator and a district court judge.

The dispute centered on a statutory exemption that allows employers to avoid pension fund ...