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

Background

The petitioners included several employee-benefit funds, the New York City District Council of Carpenters Relief and Charity Fund, the New York City and Vicinity Carpenters Labor-Management Corporation, and the New York City District Council of Carpenters. The opinion collectively calls the funds the “Funds” and calls the labor organization the “Union.” Ocean Marine Development Corp. was bound by a collective bargaining agreement between its bargaining agent, the General Contractors Association of New York, Inc., and the Union.

The agreement required Ocean Marine to make contributions to the Funds for covered employee work and to provide books and payroll records for audits. It also required arbitration of disputes about fund contributions and made the arbitrator’s award final and binding. The agreement allowed recovery of unpaid contributions, interest, liquidated damages, attorney’s fees, and costs.

An audit covering September 23, 2009, through October 31, 2010, found that Ocean Marine had not made all required contributions. After a January 17, 2019 hearing, the arbitrator issued an award on May 23, 2019, finding Ocean Marine liable for $27,042.46. The award included $9,143.30 in principal contributions, interest, liquidated damages, late-payment interest, promotional-fund charges, court costs, attorney’s fees, arbitrator’s fees, and audit costs. The opinion notes that the award listed the audit period’s starting date as September 23, 2008, but treated that date as a typographical error because the petition identified September 23, 2009.

Court’s analysis

The court explained that an arbitration award is not automatically enforceable as a court judgment. A petition to confirm an unanswered award is treated like an unopposed motion for summary judgment, meaning the court must still review the petitioner’s evidence to determine whether any important factual dispute remains.

The court found that the collective bargaining agreement covered the dispute, that the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the agreement, and that the evidence supported the award. The evidence showed that Ocean Marine received notice of the arbitration hearing and that its president attended. Nothing before the court showed that the award amount was incorrect or that the audit’s accounting methods were unsound.

Ruling

Judge Ronnie Abrams granted the petition to confirm the arbitration award. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment for $27,042.46, with prejudgment interest at 7.5% per year from May 23, 2019, through the date of judgment, and post-judgment interest at the statutory rate.

The court also granted the request for attorney’s fees because Ocean Marine had not complied with the award and offered no justification for failing to do so. The court found the hours billed reasonable but reduced the associate’s hourly rate from $275 to $225, resulting in an attorney’s-fee award of $630. It also granted $75 in costs and directed the Clerk to close the case.