Dairy

ORDER REGARDING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND A PROTECTIVE ORDER

(ECF Nos. 87, 88)

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Irigaray Dairy (“Irigaray”), Charles Van Der Kooi Dairy (“Van Der Kooi”), Henry Jongsma & Son Dairy (“Jongsma”), and Cow-West North Star Dairy (“Cow-West”) (collectively “Plaintiffs”) are four family-owned cattle dairies. Each participated in an employee pension plan made available through Defendant Dairy Employees Union Local No. 17 Christian Labor Association of the United States of America Pension Trust. When Plaintiffs withdrew from participation in the plan, Defendants undertook to assess against them “withdrawal liability,” the portion of the Pension Fund’s unfunded vested benefits resulting from Plaintiffs’ withdrawal from the plan. Plaintiffs brought this declaratory relief action asking the Court to determine whether the above Defendant and Defendant Board of Trustees of the Dairy Employees Union Local No. 17 Christian Labor Association of the United States of America Pension Trust (the “Board”) (jointly, the “Pension Fund”) should be allowed to assess that withdrawal liability.

Plaintiffs seek a judgment declaring that they are not liable under…