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

Background

The petitioners sought confirmation of an arbitration award under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, a federal law that gives courts authority over certain labor disputes. The dispute arose under a collective bargaining agreement between the petitioners and Ogee Construction LLC.

The agreement required Ogee to make payments to specified employee benefit funds for each hour worked by a covered union employee. It also allowed the funds to audit Ogee and required arbitration of disputes about those payments. An audit found that Ogee had not made required contributions from May 2, 2012, through August 8, 2017.

After arbitration, the arbitrator found that Ogee violated the agreement and ordered it to pay $62,929.83, with interest at 7.5% accruing after November 13, 2019. Ogee did not appear at the arbitration, although the arbitrator found that Ogee had received sufficient notice. Ogee also did not participate in the federal court case and had not paid the award.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that confirming an arbitration award is ordinarily a limited review. The court does not reconsider the arbitrator’s factual findings or interpretation of the agreement. Instead, it determines whether the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the agreement and at least arguably applied or interpreted that agreement.

Because the petition was unopposed, the court treated it and the supporting materials as an unopposed motion for summary judgment. Summary judgment is a decision entered when the undisputed facts show that a party is entitled to judgment under the law. The court found that the petitioners had provided enough evidence and that the award was within the arbitrator’s authority.

The petitioners also requested attorneys’ fees and costs. The court found that this award was justified because Ogee was required to arbitrate contribution disputes, did not participate in the arbitration or court case, had not paid the award, and was required by the agreement to pay reasonable collection fees and costs. The court found reasonable the request for $1,256 in attorneys’ fees for 7.4 hours of work and $70 in service fees.

Disposition

Judge Valerie Caproni granted the petition to confirm the arbitration award. The court entered judgment for the petitioners for $62,929.83 plus 7.5% prejudgment interest from November 13, 2019, awarded $1,326 in attorneys’ fees and costs for the court action, and imposed post-judgment interest at the statutory rate until the judgment is paid. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.