Facts
The case concerns a dispute between the complainant A. and the collective foundation META regarding the payment of his withdrawal benefit. A. was a shareholder and managing director of the "B. Carrosserie - Spritzwerk GmbH", which was affiliated with the META collective foundation for occupational pension provision. In the course of a restructuring, the company terminated the affiliation agreement with META, whereupon A. and another employee withdrew from the pension fund.
META refused to pay out A.'s withdrawal benefit, as the pension fund of the company was significantly underfunded. It took the view that the withdrawal benefit would only become due after the completion of the partial liquidation procedure and the determination of the deficit.
Considerations
The Federal Court confirmed META's view. It stated that in the event of a partial liquidation, the withdrawal benefit only becomes due when a binding distribution plan or a binding allocation of the deficit is available. Only then is the retirement savings protected by the vested…