Operating Engineers Health And Welfare Trust Fund v. Pacific Coast Iron, Inc.
- James Donato
- 3:23-cv-05140
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Operating Engineers Health And Welfare Trust Fund v. Pacific Coast Iron, Judge Donato granted default judgment against Pacific Coast Iron but denied it against Adam Murray.
The plaintiff funds received an award against Pacific Coast Iron, Inc.; Adam Murray was not subject to default judgment in this order.
What happened
Operating Engineers Health And Welfare Trust Fund and other plaintiff funds brought an employee-benefits case under federal law against Pacific Coast Iron, Inc. and Adam Murray. The defendants did not appear, and the plaintiffs asked for default judgment.
A magistrate judge recommended granting the motion in part and denying it in part. The report concluded that Pacific Coast Iron had failed to make required fringe-benefit contributions under collective bargaining and trust agreements, but that the plaintiffs had not shown Adam Murray was individually liable.
Judge James Donato adopted the report after an independent review. The court denied default judgment against Murray and awarded the plaintiffs $40,963.23 against Pacific Coast Iron, including unpaid contributions, liquidated damages, interest, attorney fees, and costs.
The detailed version
- Operating Engineers Health And Welfare Trust Fund v. Pacific Coast Iron, Inc. · No. 3:23-cv-05140
- James Donato
- Aug. 9, 2024
Background
The plaintiffs brought this action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal law governing certain employee-benefit plans. They alleged that Pacific Coast Iron, Inc. was required under collective bargaining and trust agreements to make timely fringe-benefit contributions to the plaintiff funds but failed to do so. The case also named Adam Murray. The defendants failed to appear.
Report and recommendation
The magistrate judge recommended granting the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment in part and denying it in part. Applying Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2) and the factors used to evaluate default judgment, the report concluded that default judgment was warranted against Pacific Coast Iron. It also concluded that the plaintiffs had not established that Murray was individually liable. No objections were filed, and the objection period expired.
Ruling
After an independent review, Judge Donato adopted the report and recommendation. Default judgment was denied with respect to Murray. For Pacific Coast Iron, the plaintiffs were awarded $40,963.23 in damages: $11,821.10 in unpaid contributions, $18,257.64 in liquidated damages, $727.02 in interest on late unpaid contributions, $9,408.50 in attorney fees, and $748.97 in costs.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.