Annuity, Welfare & Apprenticeship Skill Improvement & Safety Funds of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 15, 15A, 15C & 15D v. Eastport Excavation & Utilities Inc.

3 F. Supp. 3d 204, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34771, 2014 WL 998426
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 17, 2014
DocketNo. 11 Civ. 4112(GWG)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 3 F. Supp. 3d 204 (Annuity, Welfare & Apprenticeship Skill Improvement & Safety Funds of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 15, 15A, 15C & 15D v. Eastport Excavation & Utilities Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Annuity, Welfare & Apprenticeship Skill Improvement & Safety Funds of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 15, 15A, 15C & 15D v. Eastport Excavation & Utilities Inc., 3 F. Supp. 3d 204, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34771, 2014 WL 998426 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

GABRIEL W. GORENSTEIN, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiffs The Annuity, Welfare and Apprenticeship Skill Improvement & Safety Funds of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 15, 15A, 15C, and 15D, AFL-CIO (the “Trust Funds”) have brought this action pursuant to Sections 502 and 515 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1132 and 1145, and Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (“LMRA”), 29 U.S.C. § 185, against defendant Eastport Excavation & Utilities Inc. (“Eastport”). The Trust Funds seek to collect contributions that Eastport allegedly failed to pay towards employee fringe benefit trust funds that were required by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) between Eastport and Local 15, the Trust Funds’ sponsoring union. The parties consented to disposition of this matter by a United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). The Court held a bench trial on the disputed issues in this case. For the reasons that follow, judgment is entered in favor of the Trust Funds.

I. BACKGROUND

The Trust Funds filed the complaint on June 16, 2011. See Complaint, filed June 16, 2011 (Docket # 1). The district judge to whom this case was previously assigned denied the Trust Funds’ motion for summary judgment on May 8, 2013. See Order, dated May 8, 2013 (Docket #37). The district judge also dismissed defendant Eastport Manor Construction Inc., which had been named as a defendant in the Trust Funds’ complaint. Id. Prior to trial, the parties submitted proposed findings and a joint pre-trial order which con[208]*208tained some stipulated facts.1 The bench trial was held on September 23, 2013. Following trial, the parties submitted additional materials which included proposed findings of fact.2

In brief, the Trust Funds contend that Eastport failed to remit fringe benefit contributions on behalf of four employees: Ronald Morrison, James Pierce, Angelo Passariello, and Howard Bonet. PI. Mem. at 8-10. Eastport maintains that “plaintiffs have produced no evidence that the hours in question were worked in [Local 15’s] jurisdiction,” and that therefore East-port has no burden to prove that it in fact remitted the contributions allegedly due and owing. Def. Mem. at 6.

The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this lawsuit under Section 502 of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1132, and Section 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 185. Having considered the evidence presented at trial and the parties’ arguments as contained in their submissions, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

II. FACTS

In a bench trial, “[i]t is within the province of the district court as the trier of fact to decide whose testimony should be credited.” Krist v. Kolombos Rest, Inc., 688 F.3d 89, 95 (2d Cir.2012) (citation omitted). “[A]s trier of fact, the judge is entitled, just as a jury would be ... to believe some parts and disbelieve other parts of the testimony of any given witness.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also Newman v. Herbst, 2011 WL 684165, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 15, 2011) (“In any bench trial, the trial judge has to evaluate the credibility of the witnesses that testify, the witnesses’ demean- or, any previous inconsistent statements by a witness, as well as the witnesses’s [sic] explanation for any such inconsistent statements.”).

A. Undisputed Facts

Local 15 represents heavy construction equipment operators throughout the five boroughs of New York City. JPTO at 4, ¶ 2. Local 15 and Eastport are parties to a collective bargaining agreement, which was signed on April 17, 2002, and has not expired. Id. at 4, ¶ 1. Eastport is also party to a collective bargaining agreement with a different union, Local 138, whose jurisdiction covers Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Affidavit of Direct Testimony of Vincent Quattalaro, dated Sept. 9, 2013 (“Quattalaro Aff.”), at 2, n. 1. The CBA between Eastport and Local 15 provides the terms and conditions for the employment of Eastport’s employees who perform work falling under the jurisdiction of Local 15, including the terms and conditions for the payment of fringe benefit contributions by Eastport on behalf of employees performing work within Local 15’s jurisdiction. JPTO at 4, ¶¶ 3-4. The Trust Funds are ERISA benefit plans established by various “Declarations of Trust,” and they provide fringe benefits to their participants, including health coverage, de[209]*209fined benefit and contribution retirement plans, and industry-related skill improvement courses. See Direct Testimony Affidavit of Catherine Chase, dated Sept. 6, 2013, ¶¶ 2, 5.3 The amounts owed in fringe benefit contributions are paid for each hour of work performed. Id. ¶ 6. To satisfy the obligation, the employer provides each employee at the end of the work week with “fringe benefit stamps” that correspond to the number of hours worked by the employee that week. Id. ¶ 6. The employee then redeems the stamps for credit at the Funds office. Id. ¶ 8.

After the Trust Funds filed the complaint in this action, the Trust Funds conducted an audit of the period of July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2010, which resulted in the issuance of an audit report dated September 29, 2011. JPTO at 4-5, ¶ 6; PL Ex. 5. That report identifies contributions and interest totaling $53,481 as being due and owing for the period audited, an amount which Eastport has not paid to the Trust Funds. Id. at 5, ¶¶ 6-7.

B. Trial Testimony

1. Vincent Quattalaro

The audit is explained in detail in the direct testimony affidavit of Vincent Quat-talaro, an audit manager at Armao LLP, the accounting firm retained by the Trust Funds. See Quattalaro Aff. The auditors used Eastport’s payroll records to calculate the total payroll hours worked “in straight time” and “double time” by Howard Bonet, Ronald Morrison, Angelo Pas-sariello, and James Pierce for the period of July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009. Id. ¶ 4. The same was done for Morrison, Pas-sariello, and Pierce for the period of July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010. Id. Quat-talaro’s affidavit states that “[t]hese hours were solely for work performed within Local 15’s jurisdiction and did not include work performed by any of the employees in Nassau and/or Suffolk Counties.” Id.

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3 F. Supp. 3d 204, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34771, 2014 WL 998426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/annuity-welfare-apprenticeship-skill-improvement-safety-funds-of-the-nysd-2014.