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

Background

The petitioners were trustees of labor-management funds, the New York City and Vicinity Carpenters Labor-Management Corporation, and the New York City District Council of Carpenters. The opinion states that Piccini MNM, Inc. is a New York corporation. Through membership in the Association of Wall Ceiling and Carpentry Industries of New York, Piccini entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the Union on or about July 1, 2011.

The agreement required Piccini to make contributions to the funds for covered employee work and to make its books and records available for audit. It also allowed disputes about fund payments to be submitted to arbitration. Under the agreement and the funds’ collection policy, the funds could estimate delinquent contributions if an employer refused to comply with an audit. The agreement allowed interest, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs.

Piccini failed to comply with an audit. The petitioners estimated that $417,754.20 was owed and initiated arbitration. Although Piccini received notice of the hearing, it did not appear. The arbitrator found that Piccini violated the collective bargaining agreement and awarded the petitioners $542,478.45 for delinquent principal payments, interest, liquidated damages, fees, and costs. Piccini did not comply with the award and did not respond to the petition to confirm it.

Court’s analysis

Under the Federal Arbitration Act, a court must confirm an arbitration award unless it is vacated, modified, or corrected. Because an unanswered petition to confirm an award is treated as an unopposed request for summary judgment, the court still had to review the petitioners’ evidence and determine whether they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Judge Abrams concluded that the parties had agreed to arbitrate this dispute, because the collective bargaining agreement broadly covered disputes concerning payments to the funds. She also found that the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the agreement. The agreement and collection policy allowed the funds to estimate delinquent contributions when an employer failed to comply with audit procedures, and authorized monetary damages, interest, fees, and costs.

The petitioners also sought attorneys’ fees and costs for bringing the court petition. The court found fees appropriate because Piccini had agreed to arbitrate disputes, failed to appear at the arbitration and confirmation proceedings, and offered no justification for failing to follow the award. The court reduced the requested $770 fee to $675 by approving a rate of $275 per hour for Nicole Marimon and $225 per hour for Adrianna Grancio. It found the hours reasonable and granted $75 in service costs.

Ruling

The court granted the petition to confirm the arbitration award. It directed the Clerk to enter judgment for $542,478.45, plus pre-judgment interest at 7.25% per year from April 8, 2019, the date of the award, through the date of judgment. The court also granted $675 in attorneys’ fees, $75 in costs, and post-judgment interest at the statutory rate. The Clerk was directed to close the case.