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

Background

The plaintiffs were trustees of several employee-benefit funds and the Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York. They sued Alite Flooring LLC under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), alleging that Alite failed to make required contributions for covered work.

The court found that Alite entered into an international agreement and a collective bargaining agreement with the New York City District Council of Carpenters. The collective bargaining agreement required contributions to the funds for each hour worked by covered employees. It also incorporated the contribution rates applicable to resilient floor-covering work. The court found that the agreement automatically renewed because neither party provided written notice of termination.

Trial evidence and findings

A payroll-auditing firm reviewed Alite’s records for March 25, 2019, through June 19, 2022. The audit found that Alite failed to make contributions for 11,043.5 hours worked by covered employees. It also found that Alite paid contributions at an incorrect lower rate for another 584 hours. The unpaid and deficient contributions totaled $533,053.60.

The court acknowledged that the plaintiffs did not introduce the full multiemployer agreement referenced by the collective bargaining agreement. Instead, they introduced an unsigned agreement for independent resilient floor coverers and testimony that the agreements were identical or had the same contribution rates. The court found that the audit’s rates were supported by Alite’s own payment history and the other evidence. Alite called no witnesses and introduced no exhibits at trial.

Legal conclusions

The court treated the ERISA contribution claim and the LMRA contract claim as duplicative claims governed by the same proof. Under ERISA, an employer obligated by a collective bargaining agreement to contribute to a multiemployer benefit plan must make those contributions according to the agreement’s terms.

The court concluded that the plaintiffs established that Alite failed to pay the required contributions and that Alite did not rebut the audit or otherwise undermine the plaintiffs’ evidence. The court therefore found Alite liable for $533,053.60 in principal contributions.

Ruling and relief

Judge P. Castel also concluded that the plaintiffs were entitled to interest at the Citibank prime rate plus 2 percent. Because the court found that the interest calculation exceeded the available liquidated-damages amount, it awarded twice the interest provided for in the collective bargaining agreement. The court also found that the plaintiffs were entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, including the auditors’ costs of $7,861, although the plaintiffs had not yet identified the total attorneys’ fees and costs sought.

The court directed the plaintiffs to file a proposed judgment and supporting materials for attorneys’ fees and costs by August 1, 2025. Alite could respond by August 8, 2025.