Drywall Tapers and Pointers of Greater New York Local Union 1974 v. MAIA MP…
Drywall Tapers and Pointers of Greater New York Local Union 1974, Affiliated with International Union of Allied Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO v. MAIA MP Construction, Inc.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:19-cv-11212
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Drywall Tapers v. MAIA MP Construction, Judge Abrams denied default judgment, canceled the hearing, and chose to review the arbitration petition like summary judgment.
The petitioners’ request for default judgment was denied, and the respondent will not have to attend the canceled show-cause hearing; the court will review the petition and accompanying record instead.
What happened
In Drywall Tapers and Pointers of Greater New York Local Union 1974, Affiliated with International Union of Allied Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO v. MAIA MP Construction, Inc., the petitioners asked the court to enter judgment because the respondent had not appeared. The court had scheduled a hearing requiring the respondent to explain why judgment should not be entered.
The court determined that the earlier hearing order was mistaken. It explained that default judgments are generally inappropriate in proceedings asking a court to confirm or set aside an arbitration award because the court usually has an arbitration agreement, the award, and other records that may resolve the issues or require judicial deference.
Judge Ronnie Abrams denied the petitioners’ motion for default judgment and canceled the scheduled hearing. The court said it would instead treat the petition and accompanying record like a motion for summary judgment based on the petitioners’ submissions and address the petition promptly.
The detailed version
- Drywall Tapers and Pointers of Greater New York Local Union 1974 v. MAIA MP… · No. 1:19-cv-11212
- Ronnie Abrams
- Mar. 4, 2020
Background
On January 14, 2020, the petitioners filed a motion for default judgment against MAIA MP Construction, Inc., which the opinion also identifies as being known as MAIA MP Constructions, Inc. A default judgment is a judgment entered when a party does not respond or otherwise participate as required. On February 12, 2020, the court ordered the respondent to explain why default judgment should not be entered and scheduled a hearing for March 13, 2020.
Court’s reasoning
The court concluded that its order requiring the respondent to show cause was issued in error. Citing Second Circuit precedent, the court explained that default judgments generally do not work well in proceedings to confirm or set aside an arbitration award. These proceedings are usually supported by a record—including an agreement to arbitrate and the arbitration decision—that may resolve much of the dispute or require the court to give the arbitration decision judicial deference.
The court therefore stated that it would treat the petition and accompanying record as similar to a motion for summary judgment based on the petitioners’ submissions. Summary judgment is a decision based on the submitted record when the court determines that the governing legal issues can be resolved without the ordinary trial process.
Disposition
The court denied the petitioners’ motion for default judgment and canceled the March 13, 2020 order-to-show-cause hearing. It stated that it would instead address the petition promptly. The opinion does not decide the petition itself.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.