Operating Engineers Health And Welfare Trust Fund For Northern California v…

Background

The plaintiffs alleged that Wimmer Excavating, Inc. and Terrance Wimmer failed to pay contributions required under a collective bargaining agreement signed by Wimmer Excavating and Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3. The plaintiffs sought permission to file a first amended complaint adding Valley Earthworks, Inc. as a defendant.

The proposed amended complaint alleged that Wimmer Excavating and Valley Earthworks were a single employer or were continuations or alter egos of one another. It also alleged that Wimmer Excavating had sold or transferred assets, stock, or operations to Valley Earthworks, making Valley Earthworks a signatory to the collective bargaining agreement, and that Valley Earthworks failed to report and pay contributions for work performed by its employees.

Legal Standard and Analysis

The court had set March 31, 2020, as the deadline for amending the pleadings. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b), a scheduling-order deadline may be changed only upon a showing of good cause. The court explained that the party seeking the change must first show diligence; if the party was not diligent, the inquiry ends.

The plaintiffs said they learned of Valley Earthworks in July 2020. They also said that the Union later took the position that Valley Earthworks was a signatory to a collective bargaining agreement, that plaintiffs asked defendants on August 28 whether they would agree to the amendment, and that defendants responded on September 2 that the case was too far along to amend.

The court found that plaintiffs did not explain how they learned of Valley Earthworks or why limited discovery could not have uncovered that information earlier. Plaintiffs also did not explain why they continued asking defendants the same question for several weeks after receiving the September 2 response.

Even assuming plaintiffs had acted diligently before July 2020 and reasonably waited before filing the motion, the court found that they still had not shown good cause. Plaintiffs acknowledged that additional discovery, including an audit of Valley Earthworks, would be necessary. Adding Valley Earthworks therefore would require extending discovery and dispositive-motion deadlines, as well as the trial date. The court stated that disruption to the court's schedule was not harmless.

The court further concluded that plaintiffs did not need to add Valley Earthworks to this action to obtain the relief they sought. If Valley Earthworks was an alter ego of Wimmer Excavating, plaintiffs could seek to add it as an additional judgment debtor if they obtained a judgment against Wimmer Excavating. To the extent plaintiffs claimed that Valley Earthworks itself violated the collective bargaining agreement, the court said those alleged violations were not part of the current action and could be pursued in a separate action.

Disposition

The court denied plaintiffs' motion for leave to file a first amended complaint. It also vacated the hearing scheduled for November 20, 2020. Judge Maxine M. Chesney signed the order.