Trustees Of The New York City District Council Of Carpenters Pension Fund v…

Background

The petitioners were trustees of several New York City carpenters’ funds, the New York City and Vicinity Carpenters Labor-Management Corporation, and the New York City District Council of Carpenters. They petitioned under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act to confirm a February 1, 2019 arbitration award against Integrated Business Installations, LLC.

During the relevant period, Integrated Business Installations was bound by a collective bargaining agreement requiring it to make contributions to the funds for covered employee work. The company also signed an agreement requiring contributions identified in applicable collective bargaining agreements. The petitioners alleged that the company failed to make required payments between December 30, 2015, and August 15, 2017.

After the funds began arbitration, an arbitrator found that Integrated Business Installations violated the collective bargaining agreement. The arbitrator awarded the petitioners $12,445.56, consisting of contribution deficiencies, interest, liquidated damages, promotional fund contributions, audit costs, additional shortages and related amounts, court costs, attorney’s fees, and the arbitrator’s fee. The award also provided for interest at 7.5% annually from the award date. Integrated Business Installations did not appear in the federal court action.

Legal standard

The Federal Arbitration Act allows a party to ask a court to confirm an arbitration award. The court generally must confirm the award unless a statutory basis exists to vacate, modify, or correct it. Judicial review is narrow, and courts give substantial deference to arbitrators.

The court treated the unanswered petition as an unopposed motion for summary judgment. Summary judgment is appropriate when the record shows no genuine dispute over an important fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment under the law. Even though Integrated Business Installations did not appear, the court still had to examine the petitioners’ submissions and determine whether they met that burden.

Analysis and ruling

The court held that the petitioners were entitled to confirmation. It found substantial evidence that Integrated Business Installations failed to make the contributions required by the collective bargaining agreement. It also found that the agreement authorized the petitioners to pursue arbitration. No evidence in the record disputed the award or suggested that it was incorrect.

The court therefore granted the petition to confirm the award. Using simple interest because the petitioners did not specify whether the governing agreements called for simple or compound interest, the court calculated $933.42 in interest. It entered judgment against Integrated Business Installations for $13,378.98, terminated the motion at ECF No. 10, and closed the case.