Trustees of the Mason Tenders Distrcit Council Welfare Fund v. U.S. Tech…

Background

Petitioners were various trustees of employee benefit funds and the Executive Director and Business Manager of the Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York. They sued U.S. Tech Construction Corp. under Section 301(c) of the Labor Management Relations Act to confirm and enforce an arbitration award issued by Arbitrator Joseph Harris on May 21, 2021.

The parties were bound by the DASNY New Building Project Labor Agreement. The agreement required U.S. Tech to make benefit-fund contributions for employees performing covered work. After an audit covering December 1, 2018, through March 31, 2020, Petitioners claimed that U.S. Tech had not made all required contributions. They sought $31,250.03 in fringe benefits, dues and political-action-committee contributions, interest, audit costs, liquidated damages, and fees through arbitration.

Arbitrator Joseph A. Harris notified U.S. Tech before the arbitration hearing, but U.S. Tech did not appear. After reviewing the audit, the arbitrator ruled in favor of Petitioners. Petitioners then filed the federal petition to confirm the award. U.S. Tech was served through the New York Secretary of State, but it did not appear or file a response.

Court’s analysis

Under the Federal Arbitration Act, a court must confirm an arbitration award unless it is vacated, modified, or corrected on one of the Act’s limited grounds. Those grounds include fraud, corruption, arbitrator misconduct, exceeding the arbitrator’s authority, or a manifest disregard of the law.

Because U.S. Tech did not contest confirmation, the court still reviewed Petitioners’ submission to determine whether they met their burden. The court applied the legal standard used for summary judgment, which requires judgment when there is no genuine dispute about an important fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The court found no genuine dispute about any material fact. It concluded that the trust agreements and the project labor agreement allowed Petitioners to seek arbitration for U.S. Tech’s delinquency, and that Arbitrator Harris did not exceed his authority. The arbitrator had properly notified the parties, U.S. Tech did not appear, and U.S. Tech presented no evidence supporting vacatur of the award.

Ruling

Judge J. Paul Oetken granted Petitioners’ petition to confirm the arbitration award. The Clerk of Court was directed to enter judgment in favor of Petitioners for $31,250.03 and close the case. Petitioners were directed to mail a copy of the order to U.S. Tech.