Solano-Napa Counties Electrical Workers Health & Welfare Trust v. Brambila &…
Solano-Napa Counties Electrical Workers Health & Welfare Trust v. Brambila & Kelley Inc.
- Alex Tse
- 3:24-cv-06403
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
Solano-Napa Counties v. Brambila & Kelley: Judge Tse recommends default judgment for $115,888.69 and supports an injunction requiring future reports and payments.
The plaintiffs, employee-benefit trust funds, would receive the recommended $115,888.69 judgment. Brambila & Kelley Inc. would be subject to that judgment and potentially an injunction requiring future contribution reports and payments.
What happened
In Solano-Napa Counties Electrical Workers Health & Welfare Trust v. Brambila & Kelley Inc., the plaintiffs alleged that Brambila & Kelley underfunded employee-benefit trust funds from June 2020 through December 2022. They said this breached trust agreements and a collective bargaining agreement and violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Brambila & Kelley was served but never appeared in the case. The plaintiffs asked for a judgment based on that failure to appear. An audit found $115,888.69 owed, including unpaid contributions, damages, interest, audit costs, attorney’s fees, and legal costs. The plaintiffs also requested an injunction requiring timely monthly contribution reports and payments.
Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse recommends granting the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment and entering judgment against Brambila & Kelley for $115,888.69. The report also states that the requested injunction is appropriate. The recommendation is not yet a final judgment, and the parties may object within 14 days after receiving it.
The detailed version
- Solano-Napa Counties Electrical Workers Health & Welfare Trust v. Brambila &… · No. 3:24-cv-06403
- Alex Tse
- June 27, 2025
Background
The plaintiffs are trust funds that provide fringe benefits to employees. The report says Brambila & Kelley Inc. underfunded those trust funds from June 1, 2020, through December 31, 2022. The alleged underfunding breached the trust agreements and a related collective bargaining agreement and violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), including 29 U.S.C. § 1145.
An audit determined that Brambila & Kelley owed $115,888.69. The amount consists of:
- $74,320.21 in unpaid contributions; - $7,432.07 in liquidated damages; - $8,390.41 in interest; - $15,441.00 in audit costs; - $9,900.00 in attorney’s fees; and - $405.00 in legal costs.
The report says these amounts are recoverable under ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2). It also finds that the requested attorney’s fees are based on a reasonable hourly rate of $225 for an associate with three years of experience and 44 hours of work. The plaintiffs’ motion listed $11,655.00 in attorney’s fees, but the report identifies that figure as a calculation error and uses $9,900.00 instead.
Service and Default Judgment Analysis
The plaintiffs served Brambila & Kelley through substitute service at the home of the company’s president, Juan Manuel Brambila, by leaving the summons and complaint with a competent household member and mailing another copy to the same address. The report discusses evidence that Juan Manuel Brambila also used the name “John” Brambila and that the address was associated with Brambila & Kelley.
Brambila & Kelley did not appear despite service. Applying the factors used for default judgment, the report concludes that there is no reason to believe the failure to appear resulted from excusable neglect. It also says that the company’s failure to appear makes a decision on the merits impossible, although the plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient to state a plausible claim. Without default judgment, the report says, the plaintiffs would have no legal remedy.
Recommendation and Requested Injunction
Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse recommends that Judge Martinez-Olguin grant the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment and enter judgment for the plaintiffs against Brambila & Kelley for $115,888.69. The report also addresses the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction requiring Brambila & Kelley to submit required monthly contribution reports and payments under the collective bargaining agreement and trust agreements. It states that the injunction is appropriate under ERISA because the reports are needed to determine the full amount of fringe benefits owed.
The report requires the plaintiffs to serve Brambila & Kelley with a copy by July 1, 2025, using a method reasonably calculated to provide actual notice, and to file proof of service. Any party may object within 14 days after receiving the report and recommendation. The text provided is a report and recommendation rather than a final judgment by Judge Martinez-Olguin.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.