Trustees of the New York City District Council of Carpenters Pension Fund v…

Background

The petitioners were trustees of employee-benefit funds, trustees of a charity fund, and the Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York. New Style Contractors had signed project labor agreement letters that bound it to a project labor agreement and a collective bargaining agreement with the New York City District Council of Carpenters. Those agreements required New Style to make contributions to the Funds for covered employee work and to provide books and payroll records for audits.

The Funds attempted to audit New Style’s records for June 28, 2021, through October 30, 2023. The Funds alleged that New Style did not cooperate or provide all requested records. Using the procedure in the collection policy, the Funds estimated that New Style owed $114,706.36 in unpaid contributions and initiated arbitration.

New Style did not appear at the January 29, 2024 arbitration hearing. The arbitrator found that New Style had sufficient notice, proceeded in its default, and considered the Funds’ evidence. The arbitrator found that New Style violated the collective bargaining agreement by failing to permit the audit and ordered it to pay $154,794.37: $114,706.36 in estimated unpaid contributions, $14,241.74 in interest, $22,941.27 in liquidated damages, $405 in court costs, $1,500 in attorneys’ fees, and $1,000 in arbitrator’s fees. The arbitrator also ordered New Style to submit to the audit.

Court’s analysis

The Funds petitioned under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act to confirm the arbitration award. New Style did not respond or otherwise appear. The court explained that review of a labor arbitration award is very limited. The court’s role was not to reconsider the dispute’s merits, but to determine whether the arbitrator was at least arguably interpreting and applying the parties’ agreements and acted within the authority granted by those agreements.

The court found undisputed evidence that the dispute fell within the collective bargaining agreement’s arbitration provision. It also found that the arbitrator had authority to decide the contribution dispute, award money damages, interest, liquidated damages, fees, and costs, and order New Style to produce records for an audit. The court found no indication of fraud, dishonesty, disregard of the agreement, or action beyond the arbitrator’s authority. It therefore confirmed the $154,794.37 award.

Attorneys’ fees and costs

The court held that the collective bargaining agreement allowed the Funds to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation costs in an action to confirm the award. It also found that New Style acted in bad faith by failing to participate in the arbitration, failing to pay any part of the award, and failing to oppose the petition without offering a justification.

The Funds requested $1,869 in attorneys’ fees for six hours of work at $310 per hour and $122.60 in costs. The court found that six hours was reasonable, but determined that $300 per hour was the reasonable rate for the two attorneys whose time was documented. The court did not include claimed legal-assistant time because the submitted records did not show the time spent and tasks performed by legal assistants. The request for attorneys’ fees and costs was granted at the reduced rate, resulting in $1,800 in attorneys’ fees and $122.60 in costs.

Post-judgment interest and disposition

The court granted the request for post-judgment interest under 28 U.S.C. § 1961, which sets the statutory rate for money judgments in civil cases. The court did not address prejudgment interest because the arbitrator had not awarded it and the Funds had not requested it.

The court granted the unopposed petition to confirm the award. New Style was ordered to submit its books and records for the stated audit period. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment for the Funds consisting of the $154,794.37 arbitration award, $1,800 in attorneys’ fees, $122.60 in costs, and statutory post-judgment interest on the entire judgment.