Board of Trustees of the Glazing Health & Welfare Trust v. Chambers

168 F. Supp. 3d 1320, 61 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1110, 2016 WL 1048006, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31648
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedMarch 10, 2016
DocketCase No. 2:15-CV-01754-KJD-VCF
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 168 F. Supp. 3d 1320 (Board of Trustees of the Glazing Health & Welfare Trust v. Chambers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Trustees of the Glazing Health & Welfare Trust v. Chambers, 168 F. Supp. 3d 1320, 61 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1110, 2016 WL 1048006, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31648 (D. Nev. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

Kent J. Dawson, United States District Judge

Presently before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (# 2). Defendant filed a response in opposition (# 12) to which Plaintiffs replied (# 13).

I. FACTS

Plaintiffs (“Trustees”) are trustees of joint labor-management employee benefit trusts established by written declarations and agreements of trust authorized by the [1322]*1322Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (“LMRA” or “Taft-Hartley Act”), 29 U.S.C. § 186(c)(5). The Trustees are fiduciaries charged with the administration of the trusts which exist to acquire, hold and distribute monies intended to provide fringe benefits such as health and welfare, pension, and training benefits to members of the labor organizations who provide work for the employers.

At issue in this action is Nevada Revised Statute 608.150 (“the Statute”) which makes prime, or original, contractors, vicariously liable for labor debts of subcontractors. The Statute enables the Trustees to collect monies owed by original or subcontractors for benefits earned by members of the labor organizations when payment fails to be made by the original contractor or subcontractor who directly employed the worker.

On May 28, 2014 the Nevada Legislature passed Senate Bill 228 (“SB223”) which was signed into law by the governor on June 4, 2015. Senate Bill 223 amended key statutes, particularly NRS 608.150. The plain text of SB223 explicitly purports to regulate the trusts, which are governed by the terms of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). That text refers to the ERISA benefit trusts by various names and descriptions including: “Taft-Hartley trust”, “health or welfare fund or any other plan for the benefit of employees in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement”, “health or welfare fund or any other plan for the benefit of employees” and “express trust fund[s] to which any portion of the total compensation of a laborer, including without limitation, any fringe benefit, must be paid pursuant to an agreement with that laborer or the collective bargaining agreement of that laborer.” Those descriptions refer, exclusively, to ERISA benefit trusts.

On or about September 11, 2015, believing SB223 to be pre-empted by ERISA, Plaintiffs filed the present action seeking a declaration that SB223 is pre-empted in its entirety by ERISA. Pursuant to the parties’ agreement that the action is ripe for consideration immediately upon briefing of a motion for summary judgment, the Court held a hearing on October 9, 2015.

II. Standard for Summary Judgment

Summary judgment may be granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to set forth specific facts demonstrating a genuine factual issue for trial. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

All justifiable inferences must be viewed in the light must favorable to the nonmoving party. See Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348. However, the nonmoving party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his or her pleadings, but he or she must produce specific facts, by affidavit or other evidentiary materials as provided by Rule 56(e), showing there is a genuine issue for trial. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The court need only resolve factual issues of controversy in favor of the non-moving party where the facts specifically averred by that party contradict facts specifically [1323]*1323averred by the movant. See Lujan v. Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n, 497 U.S. 871, 888, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 111 L.Ed.2d 695 (1990); see also Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. Natural Beverage Distribs., 69 F.3d 337, 345 (9th Cir.1995) (stating that conclusory or speculative testimony is insufficient to raise a genuine issue of fact to defeat summary judgment). Evidence must be concrete and cannot rely on “mere speculation, conjecture, or fantasy. O.S.C. Corp. v. Apple Computer, Inc., 792 F.2d 1464, 1467 (9th Cir.1986). “[Uncorroborated and self-serving testimony,” without more, will not create a “genuine issue” of material fact precluding summary judgment. Villiarimo v. Aloha Island Air, Inc., 281 F.3d 1054, 1061 (9th Cir.2002).

Summary judgment shall be entered “against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Summary judgment shall not be granted if a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

III. Analysis

A. Pre-emption

“ERISA § 514(a) pre-empts ‘any and all State laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan’ covered by the statute.” Mackey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Serv., Inc., 486 U.S. 825, 829, 108 S.Ct. 2182, 100 L.Ed.2d 836 (1988)(quoting 29 U.S.C. § 1144(a)). “The pre-emption provision [of § 514(a) ] ... displaced] all state laws that fall within its sphere, even including state laws that are consistent with ERISA’s substantive requirements.” Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Mass., 471 U.S. 724, 739, 105 S.Ct. 2380, 85 L.Ed.2d 728 (1985), see also Mackey, 486 U.S. at 829-30, 108 S.Ct. 2182. “Legislative ‘good intentions’ do not save a state law within the broad preemptive scope of § 514(a).” Mackey, 486 U.S. at 830, 108 S.Ct. 2182.

A law relates to an employee benefit plan if it has a connection with or reference to such a plan. See Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U.S.

Related

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2017 NV 25 (Nevada Supreme Court, 2017)

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168 F. Supp. 3d 1320, 61 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1110, 2016 WL 1048006, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-trustees-of-the-glazing-health-welfare-trust-v-chambers-nvd-2016.