Trustees for the Mason Tenders District Council Welfare Fund v. Degmor…

Background

The petitioners were trustees of several funds associated with the Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York, along with Anna Gutsin, identified as the funds’ director in a fiduciary capacity, and David Bolger, identified as the union’s business manager. Degmor Environmental Services, LLC was a party to a collective bargaining agreement with the union. The agreement required Degmor to make contributions to the funds and to make specified union-dues and political-action-committee contributions.

The petitioners alleged that Degmor failed to make adequate payments during periods from January 1, 2015, through December 27, 2020. They began arbitration under the collective bargaining agreement. After receiving notice, Degmor did not appear at the January 30, 2023 arbitration hearing. The arbitrator found that Degmor violated the agreement and ordered it to pay $578,953.51. The amount reflected unpaid fund payments, union dues, political-action-committee contributions, interest, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and the arbitrator’s fee. The opinion states that Degmor had not paid any part of the award when the petitioners sought court confirmation.

Legal standard

The petitioners asked the court to confirm the arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act, the federal law governing the judicial enforcement of certain arbitration awards. The court treated Degmor’s failure to respond as leaving the petition unopposed and therefore treated it as an unopposed motion for summary judgment, meaning a request for judgment without a trial because the relevant facts were not genuinely disputed.

The court explained that review of an arbitration award is extremely limited. An award generally must be confirmed unless it is vacated, modified, or corrected under the narrow grounds provided by the Federal Arbitration Act. A party opposing confirmation carries a heavy burden to show that the arbitrator clearly disregarded applicable law and that the error affected the result.

Ruling

The court found that the collective bargaining agreement required Degmor to contribute to the funds for work performed by union members in New York City. The petitioners submitted two audits showing deficiencies in fund payments, unpaid union dues and political-action-committee contributions, and interest. Because Degmor did not appear at the arbitration hearing to contest the alleged violations and the record provided more than a minimal basis for the arbitrator’s decision, the court confirmed the award.

The court granted the petitioners’ motion to confirm arbitration and confirmed the $578,953.51 Arbitration Award. It directed the petitioners to file a revised proposed judgment within fourteen days after entry of the order and directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the motion and close the case.