Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union No. 28 Funds and Plans v. Five…
Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union No. 28 Funds and Plans v. Five Star Kitchen Installations, Inc.
- Freeman
- 1:18-cv-09905
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sheet Metal Workers’ Funds v. Five Star Kitchen Installations, Judge Freeman scheduled a damages inquest after the company defaulted.
The plaintiffs must submit evidence and calculations supporting their requested damages. Five Star Kitchen Installations, Inc. must use an attorney to respond or request a hearing, and otherwise risks having damages decided from the plaintiffs’ written submission alone.
What happened
Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union No. 28 Funds and Plan v. Five Star Kitchen Installations, Inc. concerns the amount of damages owed after the defendant’s default. The opinion does not state the underlying legal claims or the amount of damages sought.
Judge Freeman ordered the plaintiffs to serve and file proposed factual findings and legal conclusions about damages by February 18, 2020. Their submission had to explain the proposed amounts, connect them to the claims on which liability was established, and include sworn supporting evidence.
The court ordered that any response from Five Star Kitchen Installations had to be filed through a lawyer by March 19, 2020. Judge Debra Freeman stated that, absent a timely written request for a hearing, she would prepare a damages recommendation based only on the plaintiffs’ written submission.
The detailed version
- Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union No. 28 Funds and Plans v. Five… · No. 1:18-cv-09905
- Freeman
- Jan. 17, 2020
Background
Judge George B. Daniels referred the case to Judge Debra Freeman to conduct an inquest into the amount of damages to award the plaintiffs after Five Star Kitchen Installations, Inc. defaulted. The opinion states that liability had been established, but it does not identify the underlying claims or state the damages amount.
Court’s instructions
The court ordered the plaintiffs to serve Five Star and file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law about damages by February 18, 2020. The filing had to connect each proposed damages figure to the legal claim on which liability had been established, explain how the plaintiffs calculated the figure, and include a sworn affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury. The supporting submission also had to attach and explain documentary evidence supporting the proposed damages.
Five Star could submit a response by March 19, 2020. Because it is a corporation, the court cautioned that it could not appear without an attorney; any response or request for a damages hearing therefore had to be filed through counsel.
Disposition
This was a scheduling order for the damages inquest, not a final damages award. If Five Star did not respond by March 19, 2020, Judge Freeman stated that she would issue a report and recommendation about damages based only on the plaintiffs’ written submission. She also stated that the court would not hold a damages hearing unless Five Star requested one in writing by that date.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.