Boards of Trustees of the Seattle Area Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry Health & Welfare Trust v. JP Francis & Associates Inc

Opinion

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4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 BOARDS OF TRUSTEES OF THE CASE NO. 2:21-cv-01040-JHC 8 SEATTLE AREA PLUMBING & PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY HEALTH & ORDER RE DKT. # 32 9 WELFARE TRUST, et al., 10 Plaintiffs, 11 v. 12 J.P. FRANCIS & ASSOCIATES, INC., 13 Defendant. 14 I 15 INTRODUCTION 16 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs Boards of Trustees of the Seattle Area 17 Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry Health & Welfare Trust, Seattle Area Plumbing & Pipefitting 18 Industry Journeymen and Apprentice Training Trust, Western Washington U.A. Supplemental 19 Pension Plan, Washington State Plumbing & Pipefitting Industry Pension Plan, International 20 Training Fund, and Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund’s (collectively, Trust Funds) 21 “Supplemental Brief in Support of Default Judgment in Response to Order at Dkt. # 29.” Dkt. 22 # 32. Being fully advised, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ request for judgment in the amount of 23 $103,071.52 for the November 2020 to May 2021 delinquent period. 24 1 II BACKGROUND 2 Plaintiffs moved for default judgment, seeking recovery against Defendant J.P. Francis & 3 Associates, Inc. under section 502 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 4 29 U.S.C. § 1132,1 and the Trust Agreements.2 See generally Dkt. # 28. On June 14, 2023, the 5 Court granted in part and denied in part Plaintiffs’ motion.3 Dkt. # 29. After considering all 6 seven factors set forth in Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471–72 (9th Cir. 1986), the Court 7 determined that default judgment against Defendant was warranted. Dkt. # 29 at 4–8. 8 In evaluating damages, the Court found that Plaintiffs had provided sufficient evidence 9 for two out of the three requested categories of damages: (1) $100,151.45 in unreported and 10 unpaid Trust Fund contributions and associated fees for the January 2020 through December 11 2021 audit period,4 id. at 10–11; and (2) $6,363.50 in reasonable attorney fees and costs, id. at 12 11–12. But the Court did not grant Plaintiffs’ request for judgment under the third category of 13 damages: an amount of $84,261.80, comprised of $55,963.03 in reported but unpaid fringe 14 benefit contributions, $15,496.70 in liquidated damages, $12,102.07 in prejudgment interest, and 15 $700 in “referral attorney fees,” to cover Defendant’s November 2020 to May 2021 delinquent 16

17 1 Under section 502 of ERISA, if a fiduciary brings an action for or on behalf of a plan under section 515 and wins a favorable judgment, 18 [T]he court shall award the plan: (A) the unpaid contributions, (B) interest on the unpaid contributions, (C) an amount equal to the greater of—(i) interest on the unpaid 19 contributions, or (ii) liquidated damages provided for under the plan in an amount not in excess of 20 percent . . . , [and] (D) reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of the action, to 20 be paid by the defendant. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2). 21 2 The Trust Agreements stipulate that, in the event of delinquency, the Trust Funds may collect unpaid contributions, liquidated damages, interest, attorney fees, costs, and audit fees against the 22 delinquent employer. See Dkt. # 14 at 6–11. 3 The Court’s order describes how the Trust Funds operate, how Defendant failed to fulfill its obligations under each Trust Fund’s Trust Agreement, and other pertinent procedural history leading to 23 Plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment. Dkt. # 29 at 2–3. 4 The $100,151.45 award covers $80,310.68 in unreported and unpaid contributions, $14,503.30 24 in liquidated damages, $3,814.20 in interest, and $1,523.27 in audit fees. Dkt. # 29 at 10–11. 1 period. See id. at 9–10. Because Plaintiffs provided insufficient evidence and conflicting 2 information, the Court could not determine the appropriate damage award for the November 3 2020 to May 2021 period. See id.; see also Dkt. ## 1, 28; Bd. Of Trs. Of the Boilermaker

4 Vacation Tr. v. Skelly, Inc., F. Supp. 2d 1222, 1226 (N.D. Cal. 2005) (upon default, a plaintiff 5 bears the burden of proving that its requested damages are reasonable and supported by 6 evidence). Thus, the Court (1) denied Plaintiffs’ request for $84,261.80 without prejudice, (2) 7 granted Plaintiffs until July 14, 2023, to file a supplemental brief explaining their requested 8 judgment, and (3) deferred entry of final judgment. Dkt. # 29 at 12–13. On July 12, 2023, 9 Plaintiffs filed their supplemental brief. Dkt. # 32. 10 III DISCUSSION 11 In their supplemental brief, Plaintiffs now request $103,071.52 to cover Defendant’s 12 remaining unpaid contributions and late fees for the November 2020 to May 2021 delinquent 13 period. Dkt. # 32 at 2. This request consists of $52,248.28 in unpaid contributions, $33,976.02 14 in liquidated damages, $16,147.22 in interest, and $700 in referral attorney fees.5 Id. at 5. 15 After reviewing Plaintiffs’ additional evidence, the Court now grants Plaintiffs’ request to 16 recover Defendant’s unpaid contributions and associated fees for the November 2020 to May 17 2021 delinquent period. In considering the summary of the amounts owed and the copies of 18 Defendant’s remittance reports, see Dkt. # 33 at 7–9, 11–49, Plaintiffs’ revised request for 19 20 5 Plaintiffs’ requested award is different than before because: (1) Plaintiffs revised the requested 21 amount of unpaid contributions from $57,899.65 (value from initial complaint) and $55,963.03 (value from motion for default judgment) to $52,248.28 based on the unfunded remittance reports; (2) Plaintiffs 22 modified the requested amount of liquidated damages from $15,496.70 to $33,976.02 to account for the 20% liquidated damage rate and the liquidated damages that accrued between November 30, 2022 and July 13, 2023; and (3) Plaintiffs changed the requested amount of interest from $12,102.07 to $16,147.22 23 to account for the proper base from which to calculate interest and the interest that accrued between November 30, 2022 and July 13, 2023. See generally Dkt. ## 1, 28, 32. Plaintiffs’ request for $700 in 24 referral attorney fees remains consistent. Id. 1 $52,248.28 in reported but unpaid contributions is reasonable and supported by the evidence. 2 Given the clarification of the amount of unpaid and late paid contributions owed by Defendant, 3 as well as the proper liquidated damages rate, interest rate, and mechanism for calculating late 4 fees, Plaintiffs’ requested award of $33,976.02 in liquidated damages and $16,147.22 in interest 5 is justified. See Dkt. ## 32, 33. Finally, the Court accepts Plaintiffs’ “referral attorney fees” 6 explanation. 7 IV CONCLUSION For these reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ request for judgment of $103,071.52, ° consisting of $52,248.28 in unpaid contributions, $33,976.02 in liquidated damages, $16,147.22 in interest, and $700 in referral attorney fees for the November 2020 through May 2021 " delinquent period. Dkt. #32. Interest will accrue on the outstanding contributions at the rate set "2 forth in the Trust Agreements, from July 13, 2023, until paid. 8 Dated this 25th day of July, 2023. 14 5 [ok 4. Chur John H. Chun 16 United States District Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24