Raines v. Builders Alliance Inc

Background

The plaintiffs were trustees of the Carpenters and Joiners Welfare Fund, Twin City Pension Master Fund, and Carpenters and Joiners Apprenticeship and Journeyman Training Trust Fund, collectively referred to as the Funds. The Funds are jointly administered employee-benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Builders Alliance Inc. was bound by a collective bargaining agreement requiring it to make monthly fringe-benefit contributions to the Funds. The agreement also required a delinquent employer to pay 10 percent liquidated damages and interest on unpaid contributions. Donald C. Speese, identified as Builders Alliance’s owner and officer, agreed to personal liability under the agreement for Builders Alliance’s failure to comply with its terms.

The Funds audited Builders Alliance’s contributions for December 2016 through November 2019. The auditor reviewed payroll, tax, unemployment, employee-hours, and fringe-benefit records. The audit found unpaid contributions for covered work performed by Builders Alliance employees and by employees of a subcontractor that was not a signatory to the collective bargaining agreement. Builders Alliance made two payments during the audit, which the auditor credited against the final invoice, but it made no further payments toward the amount claimed.

Summary-judgment analysis

The Funds moved for summary judgment. Summary judgment is appropriate when the evidence shows no genuine dispute about a fact that could affect the outcome and the moving party is entitled to judgment under the law.

The court held that the defendants were bound by the collective bargaining agreement and did not dispute that they owed fringe-benefit contributions. Their only dispute concerned the amount. They relied on one fringe-fund report listing $11,830.29, a text message referring to a $54,000 payment for “Davis bacon,” and an accountant’s email discussing alleged payments. The court considered the exhibits but found them incomplete, vague, unsupported, and insufficient to show that the Funds’ audit was incorrect or that the alleged payments related to the unpaid contributions.

The Funds supported their claimed amount of $74,065.53 with the auditor’s declaration, an itemized audit invoice, fringe-fund reports, subcontractor work-hour records, and payroll documentation. The court concluded that the defendants’ evidence did not create a genuine dispute of material fact and that no reasonable jury could find that the defendants owed only the smaller amount they asserted.

Ruling and judgment

Chief Judge John R. Tunheim granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on their claims for unpaid fringe-benefit contributions and damages. The court awarded a money judgment against the defendants consisting of:

- $74,065.53 for unpaid fringe-benefit contributions; - $7,406.55 in liquidated damages, equal to 10 percent of the unpaid contributions; - $2,255.54 in accrued interest; and - $12,886.00 in reasonable attorneys’ fees.

The court did not award attorneys’ costs because the plaintiffs had not submitted documentation verifying the amount requested. The order directed that judgment be entered accordingly.