Caesars expelled from pension plan

NRF, which handles pension plans for employees in casino, hotel, laundry and apparel industries, voted to expel Bally’s, Harrah’s, and Caesars Atlantic City casinos in January, demanding that Caesars withdraw and pay the liability as the debt-laden Caesars prepared to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“We did not start this. Caesars started this, and had Caesars not done what they were going to do, and did do, we would never have taken these actions,” fund chairman Jim Brubaker said on Monday.
“The ongoing bankruptcy is going to divide the company and the ownership group,” Brubaker added. “When that happens, we no longer have the ability to pursue the other parts of Caesars — the so-called good Caesars — for the obligations of the bad Caesars. So we had to act before the bankruptcy.”

According to court papers that Caesars filed on Friday, the company received the payment demand last month.
Atlantic City casino workers union President Bob McDevitt called the expulsion “a dumb move by some trustees on the fund who really weren’t thinking things through.”
“Caesars was current on its pension payments when the casinos were expelled,” McDevitt added.
McDevitt and 10 other trustees sued NRF to void the expulsions in February, calling them “unnecessary, premature, and irrational.” Caesars said it would continue making regular contributions to an escrow fund while the lawsuit is ongoing.