Years ago I came across a line of cases suggesting that a multiemployer plan could not enforce the contribution obligation against an owner who chose to work at the trade.

This issue has presented itself again and I am unable to locate the case citations. Of course the CBA is silent on this issue.

Preliminary research shows a few recent decisions that allowed plans to recover from working owners. They focus on the issue of whether an owner can be considered an "employee" under ERISA. (My recollection is that the Supreme Court indicated a person can be both an owner and employee).

Has anyone researched this issue lately? If so I would appreciate a summary of your findings and any case citations. Thanks in advance.

You might want to look at this advisory opinion on the "employee" issue:

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/regs/aos/ao2006-04a.html

The Supreme Court case you may be referring to is Yates v. Hendon. I work at the firm that obtained the advisory opinion cited by KJohnson, we come across this issue often. Hope this helps.