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

Background

The petitioners—several New York City District Council of Carpenters funds, the Carpenter Contractor Alliance of Metropolitan New York, and the New York City District Council of Carpenters—asked the court to confirm an arbitration award against Offsite Construction Solutions LLC. They brought the petition under the Labor Management Relations Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and the Federal Arbitration Act.

The arbitration award was $398,082.02. The petitioners also sought post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs, for a requested total of $398,649.02. The petition and related materials were served on Offsite on October 7, 2021.

Proceedings

The court referred the case to Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein. He treated the petition as a motion for summary judgment, which asks whether the evidence shows that the moving party is entitled to judgment without a trial, and directed Offsite to respond. Offsite did not respond, request additional time, or appear in the case.

Magistrate Judge Gorenstein issued a Report and Recommendation on January 18, 2022, recommending that the court enter judgment for the petitioners in the amount of $398,649.02. He recommended confirming the $398,082.02 arbitration award, adding interest at 5.25% per year—calculated as $57.26 per day after June 12, 2021—and awarding $490 in attorneys’ fees and $77 for service fees and legal costs. Neither party objected.

Ruling

Because there were no objections, Judge Broderick reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake. He found none and adopted it in its entirety.

The court granted the petition and confirmed the arbitration award. Petitioners were awarded $398,649.02 plus $57.26 in interest for each day from June 12, 2021, through the date the Clerk entered judgment. The court directed that the order be served on Offsite, that judgment be entered, and that the case be closed.