Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1 v. Penn Valley Tile, Inc.

175 F. Supp. 3d 487, 2016 WL 1221436, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40839
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided March 29, 2016·No. CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-3248·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM'

Jones, District Judge.

Now pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (MSJ) (Dkt No. 17), including Plaintiffs’ Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (SUMF). Defendants failed to timely respond to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court issued an Order providing Defendants additional time to respond as is permitted under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e)(1). (Dkt No. 18.) Again, Defendants filed no response. As a result, Plaintiffs! Statement of Undisputed Material Facts will be deemed admitted as is permitted under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e)(2).

Plaintiffs’ Complaint, (Dkt No. 1 [hereinafter “Compl.”]), brings four separate counts. Plaintiffs’ claims are as follows: Count I — Breach of Contract Under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act Against Penn Valley Tile and Howard Grabel; Count II — Breach of Contract and Breach of Statutory Obligations Under Section 515 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. § 145; Count III — Breach of Contract Under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act and Breach of Fiduciary Duties under ERISA Against Howard Grabel In His Individual Capacity; Count IV — Common Law Conversion.as Against Howard Grabel In His Individual and Corporate Capacity. Plaintiffs move for summary judgment under Section 301 of the [490] Labor Management Relations Act (“LMRA”) based on breach of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and for summary judgment under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) based on a failure to make obligatory contributions and Mr. Grabel’s breach of his fiduciary duties. Notably, Plaintiffs do not seek to hold Mr. Grabel personally liable for breach of the CBA under Section 301 and do not pursue the common law conversion claim; therefore, Count III insofar as it relates to the LMRA and Count IV are deemed abandoned. The court will address Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment as to Counts I, II and III to the extent it pertains to the LMRA.1

Upon consideration of the aforementioned filings and for the reasons that follow, summary judgment will be granted in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendants.

I. Facts

The Court recites the undisputed facts as stated by Plaintiff and admitted by Defendant.

Plaintiffs are the Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1 of PA/DE (“BAC-1”), Board of Trustees of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 of PA/DE Health and Welfare, Joint Apprentice and Training, Pension, and Annuity Funds and Board of the Trustees of the Bricklayer and Trowel Trades International Pension Fund (“Funds”). (SUMF ¶ 1.) Defendants are Penn Valley Tile, Inc. (“Penn Valley Tile”) and Howard Grabel, owner, President and Treasurer of Penn Valley Tile. (SUMF ¶ 3.)

1. The Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Plaintiffs collect contributions from signatory employers pursuant to the rates and procedures detailed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) that BAC-1 executes with various employers in their jurisdiction. (SUMF ¶2.) Howard Gravel, on behalf of Penn Valley Tile, executed a CBA with BAC-1 on October 16, 2004. (SUMF ¶ 4.) The CBA and related trust documents contractually require Defendants to make contributions to the Employee Benefit Trust Funds at the rate and in the manner specified in the CBA. (SUMF ¶ 5.) The CBA, along with the Statement of Policy, provides the right of Plaintiffs to conduct random audits to ensure compliance. (SUMF ¶ 11.) The CBA automatically renews on an annual basis absent timely written notice to the contrary. (SUMF ¶ 8.) No notice was provided to terminate the CBA and Defendant Gra-bel submitted monthly benefit reports under the CBA for eleven years. (SUMF ¶ 9-10.)

2. The Audit and Revised Audit

In accordance with the audit provisions of the CBA, Plaintiffs’ auditors conducted a payroll compliance review of Defendants’ records for the work period of January 1, 2010 through March 31, 2013. (SUMF ¶ 12-13.) The audit was conducted on November 18, 2013 by accountant Joel L. Glauser PC, 4753 E. Street Road, Feasterville, PA 19053, and is attached as Exhibit 9. (SUMF ¶ 12.) The audit found that Defendants owed a total of $70,559.66, including unreported contributions, interest, liquidated damages, and audit costs.2 (SUMF [491] ¶ 13.) The audit found payment discrepancies resulting from Defendants failure to remit contributions on all hours worked and all hours paid, and failure to report all hours worked by covered employees. (SUMF ¶ 14.)

After an objection from Defendant, the audit was revised to reflect that Defendants failed to remit $6,154.14 in principal contributions for its employees to BAC Local 1 and $6,142.59 in principal contributions to the International Funds. (SUMF ¶ 19-20.) In addition, the audit found that Defendants owe $10,573.87 to BAC Local 1 for hourly contributions that were reported and paid to the International Funds, but not to the Local Funds. (SUMF ¶ 20.) After the revised audit, there were no further objections and no evidence has been produced to counter the findings of the audit. (SUMF ¶ 21.)

S. Additional Payments Required Under the CBA

Under the CBA, an employer who had been delinquent on contributions must pay interest at the rate of 12% for Local Funds and 15% for International Funds. (SUMF ¶ 22; CBA Article 5, Section B.) As a result, Defendants owe interest to the Local Funds in the amount of $3,078.51. (SUMF ¶ 23; Dec. Kiszlo; Dec. Battaglia.) Defendants also owe interest to the International Funds in the amount of $3,979.42 for delinquencies set forth in the audit and $4,554.52 for delinquent August 2012 principal contributions. (SUMF ¶ 23; Dec. Kiszlo; Dec. Battaglia.)

In addition, a delinquent employer is obligated to pay liquidated damages equal to 10% of the principal due. (SUMF ¶ 24; CBA Article 5, Section B.) Defendants owe liquidated damages to the Local Funds in the amount of $615.41. (SUMF ¶ 25; Dec. Battaglia.) Defendants owe liquidated damages to the International Funds in the amount of $1,041.15 for the audit period and $1,057.39 for the delinquent August 2012 principal contributions. (SUMF ¶ 25; Dec. Battaglia.)

The CBA, together with the Statement of Policy, further authorizes recovery of costs associated with collective actions. (SUMF ¶ 26; CBA Article 5, Section B.) The cost of the audit to the Local. Funds was $4,925.62 and the cost of the audit to the International Funds was $801.85. (SUMF ¶ 27; Dec. Kiszlo; Dec. Battaglia.) Defendants are also responsible for attorney’s fees and costs associated with this litigation. (SUMF ¶28; CBA Article 5.)

k. Defendant Howard Grabel

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Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1 v. Penn Valley Tile, Inc., 175 F. Supp. 3d 487, 2016 WL 1221436, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40839 (E.D. Pa. 2016).

175 F. Supp. 3d 487 (Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1 v. Penn Valley Tile, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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