Board of Trustees for the Laborers Health & Welfare Trust Fund for Northern…
Board of Trustees for the Laborers Health & Welfare Trust Fund for Northern California v. Empire Engineering & Construction, Inc.
- Haywood Gilliam
- 4:21-cv-04403
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Board of Trustees v. Empire Engineering, Judge Corley ordered plaintiffs to explain possibly defective service and paused the default-judgment hearing.
The plaintiffs must explain whether they properly served Empire Engineering & Construction, Inc.; the default-judgment hearing was vacated pending the court’s review of that explanation.
What happened
Board of Trustees for the Laborers Health & Welfare Trust Fund for Northern California v. Empire Engineering & Construction, Inc. involves plaintiffs who say Empire failed to make required contributions to employee benefit trust funds under bargaining agreements. Plaintiffs asked for a default judgment awarding unpaid contributions, additional damages, interest, and legal expenses.
The court questioned whether Empire was properly served. The summons identified Clifton Burch at the Mendell Street address as Empire’s service agent, but the proof of service said the papers were left with Muhammed Jawwad, a manager, at a different Hegenberger Road address and then mailed there. Plaintiffs had not explained their efforts to serve Burch directly or shown that the Hegenberger Road address was an office.
The court ordered plaintiffs to file a written response about the adequacy of service by October 21, 2021, and vacated the October 28 hearing on the default-judgment motion while considering the issue. The order was signed by Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley.
The detailed version
- Board of Trustees for the Laborers Health & Welfare Trust Fund for Northern… · No. 4:21-cv-04403
- Haywood Gilliam
- Oct. 7, 2021
Background
Several employee benefit plans and their trustees sued Empire Engineering & Construction, Inc., alleging that it failed to pay contributions required by bargaining agreements. Plaintiffs filed a motion for default judgment seeking unpaid contributions, liquidated damages, interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
Service concerns
A federal court generally cannot exercise jurisdiction over a defendant unless the defendant has been properly served. The summons identified Clifton Burch as Empire’s agent for service of process and listed 180 Mendell Street in San Francisco. The California Secretary of State’s website also identified Burch and the Mendell Street address for service.
The proof of service, however, stated that the summons and complaint were served by substituted service. The papers were left with Muhammed Jawwad, identified as a manager, at 675 Hegenberger Road, Suite 216, in Oakland, and copies were mailed to that address. Plaintiffs’ default-judgment motion did not address why service occurred at a different address, why the papers were left with a manager rather than Burch, whether plaintiffs had been reasonably diligent in trying to serve Burch directly, or whether the Hegenberger Road address was an office address as required for the asserted method of substituted service.
Order
The court ordered plaintiffs to show cause—meaning to explain to the court—why service should be considered adequate. Plaintiffs had to file a written response by October 21, 2021. The court vacated the October 28 hearing on the default-judgment motion and stated that it would take that motion under submission after receiving plaintiffs’ response. The order did not decide the default-judgment motion or the alleged unpaid contributions.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.