Trustees of the New York City District Council of Carpenters Pension Fund v…

Background

The plaintiffs were trustees of multiemployer employee-benefit funds associated with the New York City District Council of Carpenters. Manny P. Concrete Company, Inc. performed concrete and foundation work under several project labor agreements. Those agreements incorporated collective bargaining agreements, which in turn incorporated the Funds’ trust agreements, regulations, and collection policies.

The agreements required the company to make benefit contributions for covered work and to submit to audits. The Funds audited the company’s records for work performed from March 26, 2014, through December 27, 2016. The auditor found 217 hours of unpaid benefit contributions. Before the lawsuit began, the company paid an amount representing the principal delinquent contributions, but it did not pay the claimed interest, liquidated damages, audit costs, and other charges.

The plaintiffs filed the case under the Labor Management Relations Act, a federal law that permits lawsuits involving contracts between employers and labor organizations. Both sides moved for summary judgment, which asks whether the undisputed record requires judgment without a trial.

Court’s analysis

The court held that the plaintiffs qualified as a labor organization under the Act and that the Act applied to the dispute. The court explained that the Act allows federal courts to apply federal common-law contract principles to labor agreements, including agreements that incorporate other agreements by reference.

The court concluded that Manny P. Concrete was bound by the project labor agreements, the incorporated collective bargaining agreements, and the Funds’ collection policy. Those documents required timely contributions and imposed interest and other charges when contributions were delinquent. They also required payment of specified amounts, including interest, liquidated damages, audit costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, when the Funds successfully brought a collection action.

The court rejected three defenses. First, it found that the project labor agreements’ provision giving those agreements priority when they conflicted with collective bargaining agreements did not apply because the company identified no conflict. Second, it rejected the argument that the dispute was governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act instead of the Labor Management Relations Act. Third, it rejected the argument that the plaintiffs had to use the project labor agreements’ grievance and arbitration procedures because the plaintiffs were third-party beneficiaries, not signatories to those agreements.

Ruling and relief

Judge Alison J. Nathan granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and denied the defendant’s cross-motion. The court ordered Manny P. Concrete to pay $22,477.77. The court described that total as including $190.46 in delinquent contributions to the relevant fund, $1,668.01 in interest identified in the audit, $1,978.48 in liquidated damages, $5,950 in audit costs, and $12,690.82 in late-payment interest. The court also ordered payment of the plaintiffs’ reasonable attorney’s fees and costs and referred calculation of those fees to Magistrate Judge Wang by separate order. The court further admonished the defendant’s counsel regarding the contents of the briefing and the defendant’s failure to comply with certain summary-judgment filing requirements.