Trustees for The Mason Tenders District Council Welfare Fund v. Universal…

Background

The petitioners were the Trustees for The Mason Tenders District Council Welfare Fund, Pension Fund, Annuity Fund, and Training Program Fund, along with John J. Virga in his fiduciary capacity as director and Robert Bonanza as business manager of the Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York. The opinion refers to the Funds and the Union as the petitioners. Universal Preservation Group was an employer bound by a collective bargaining agreement with the Union.

The agreement required Universal to make contributions to the Funds for covered employees. The related trust agreements required timely monthly payments and made Universal responsible for unpaid contributions, interest, liquidated damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and other relief. They also allowed the Trustees to start arbitration when Universal failed to make required contributions.

A dispute concerned payment periods from June 1, 2016, through December 26, 2017, and from June 1, 2018, through September 30, 2018. The petitioners notified Universal and began arbitration before Joseph Harris. Universal received notice of the arbitration hearing but did not appear. Based on evidence presented by the petitioners, including an audit, the arbitrator issued an award on January 24, 2019, requiring Universal to pay $201,895.00 for delinquent contributions, interest, liquidated damages, late-payment interest, costs, and fees.

Universal did not fully comply with the award. The petitioners then brought this action under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act seeking judicial confirmation of the award. Universal was served but did not oppose the petition or otherwise participate.

Confirmation of the Arbitration Award

An arbitration award is not automatically enforceable as a court judgment. A court generally confirms an award unless it is vacated, modified, or corrected. Judicial review is highly limited, and an award must be enforced if there is at least a barely colorable justification for the arbitrator’s result.

Because Universal did not oppose the petition, the court evaluated the confirmation request under the standards for summary judgment. Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine dispute about a material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment under the law. Even when a request is unopposed, the court must independently determine whether the petitioner has met that burden.

The court found that the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the parties and relied on substantial and credible evidence that Universal owed the contributions and had failed to pay them. The court concluded that the award had at least a barely colorable justification and that no material factual dispute required a trial. The court therefore confirmed the award in favor of the petitioners and entered judgment for $201,895.00.

Attorney’s Fees for This Court Action

The petitioners separately requested attorney’s fees and costs incurred in bringing the confirmation action. The court explained that Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act does not itself authorize such an award. A court may award fees under its inherent equitable authority when the opposing party acts in bad faith, but the petitioners did not provide evidence supporting a finding of bad faith. The court therefore did not award fees and costs associated with the petition.

Post-Judgment Interest

The court held that federal law requires interest on a civil money judgment at the rate specified in 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a). Because a confirmed arbitration award has the same force and effect as a court judgment, the court awarded post-judgment interest beginning when judgment was entered and continuing until payment.

Disposition

The court confirmed the arbitration award, entered judgment for $201,895.00, awarded post-judgment interest under 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a), and did not award fees and costs for the confirmation action. The court requested that the Clerk of Court close the case.