Trustees Of The New York City District Council Of Carpenters Pension Fund v…

Background

The Trustees of several funds and the Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York sought confirmation of an arbitration award against Minelli Construction Co., Inc. The Funds and Minelli were bound by a collective bargaining agreement through project labor agreements. The collective bargaining agreement required Minelli to make contributions for covered employee work and to provide books and records for audits. It also incorporated the Funds’ collection policy, which allowed the Funds to estimate delinquent contributions if an employer refused to cooperate with an audit and required disputes generally to be resolved through arbitration.

The Funds requested an audit covering April 1, 2022, through the date of the request. Minelli did not provide the requested records. Using the estimation method in the collection policy, the Funds calculated $668,893.86 in unpaid contributions. Minelli did not challenge those estimated findings.

The Funds then arbitrated the dispute before Steven Kasarda. Minelli received notice but did not appear. On December 6, 2024, the arbitrator found that Minelli violated the collective bargaining agreement by refusing to allow the audit. He awarded $894,480.29, consisting of principal, interest, liquidated damages, court costs, attorneys’ fees, and the arbitrator’s fee. He also ordered Minelli to produce the required books and records within 30 days. The Funds said Minelli had paid nothing and had not complied with the audit order.

The Funds filed this action on February 5, 2025, and moved for summary judgment. Minelli did not appear or file anything in the case despite being served.

Legal standard

Under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, a federal court may confirm a labor arbitration award. Review is very limited: the court generally does not reconsider the arbitrator’s decision on the merits. Instead, it asks whether the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the collective bargaining agreement, was at least arguably interpreting or applying that agreement, and did not disregard its plain language. An unopposed confirmation petition is treated much like an unopposed summary-judgment motion, so the petitioner still must show that the undisputed facts establish entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.

Court’s analysis

The court found no indication that the award was obtained through fraud or dishonesty or that the arbitrator acted outside his authority. The record showed that the arbitrator relied on undisputed evidence that the Funds attempted to audit Minelli, that Minelli denied the requests in violation of the collective bargaining agreement and collection policy, and that the award’s amounts were based on provisions in those agreements and undisputed testimony.

The court therefore granted the Funds’ motion and confirmed the arbitration award. It also ordered Minelli to make its books and records available within 30 days for an audit in compliance with the award. In the conclusion, the court ordered Minelli to submit to an audit covering April 1, 2022, through the present.

The court granted the Funds’ request for post-judgment interest at the statutory rate from the date judgment was entered until payment in full.

The court also held that attorneys’ fees and costs were justified because Minelli had agreed to arbitration, had not complied with the award, and had offered no justification for its failure to do so. The Funds requested $9,300 in attorneys’ fees and $153.30 in costs. The court found the documented 29.6 hours reasonable and approved the partner’s and paralegals’ rates, but reduced the associate’s rate to $250 per hour because she had graduated from law school in 2024 and the requested $310 and $325 rates were unsupported. The court awarded $7,515 in attorneys’ fees and $153.30 in costs, for a total of $7,668.30.

Disposition

Judge Gregory H. Woods granted the petition to confirm the arbitration award. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment for $894,480.29, plus prejudgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs totaling $7,668.30, and statutory post-judgment interest. The conclusion states that prejudgment interest is calculated at 10.25% per year from April 1, 2022, through the date of judgment.