Central States Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. King Dodge, Inc.

Summary

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit considered which statute of limitations governed a pension and health-and-welfare fund’s action to collect delinquent employer contributions. The court held that a ten-year limitations period applied under either Missouri or Illinois law because the employer’s promise to pay was contained in the governing agreement, and it reversed and remanded the district court’s decision.

Holdings

1. The claim is subject to a ten-year statute of limitations because both Missouri and Illinois law provide a ten-year limitations period applicable to the obligation at issue; the district court therefore erred in barring most of the claim under a shorter period.
2. A writing falls within the ten-year limitations period even when extrinsic evidence is needed to calculate the exact amount of the debt, so long as the writing itself contains the promise to pay money.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court applied the correct statute of limitations to Central States' claim for delinquent fund contributions.
2. Whether the ten-year Missouri limitations period for an action upon a writing for the payment of money applied when extrinsic evidence was needed to calculate the exact amount owed.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded