Central New York Laborers' Health & Welfare Fund v. Fahs Construction Group, Inc.

170 F. Supp. 3d 337, 2016 WL 1106445, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38270
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedMarch 21, 2016
Docket5:13-CV-226
StatusPublished

This text of 170 F. Supp. 3d 337 (Central New York Laborers' Health & Welfare Fund v. Fahs Construction Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Central New York Laborers' Health & Welfare Fund v. Fahs Construction Group, Inc., 170 F. Supp. 3d 337, 2016 WL 1106445, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38270 (N.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM-DECISION and ORDER

DAVID N. HURD, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Central New York Laborers’ Health and Welfare Fund, Central New York Laborers’ Pension Fund, Central New York Laborers’ Annuity Fund, Central New York Laborers’ Training Fund, New York State Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, and New York State Laborers • Health & Safety Fund (“the Funds”), along with the Construction Employers’ Association of Central New York, Inc. and the Construction and General Laborers’ Local Union No. 633 (“the Union”.) (collectively “plaintiffs”), initially filed this action against defendants Fahs Construction Group, Inc. (the “Corporation”) and Richard Gangemi (“Gange-mi”), it Chief Operating Officer and authorized agent.

Plaintiffs sought monetary .and injunc-tive relief pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 (“LMRA”), and related state law based on defendants’ alleged failure to remit certain benefit contributions to the plaintiff Funds on behalf of employees covered by provisions in the plaintiff Union’s collective bargaining agreements.

On March 2, 2015, Gangemi moved individually to dismiss the complaint against him in its entirety pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 12(b)(1), arguing that the so-called “lynchpin” of plaintiffs’ case — a' collective bargaining agreement allegedly executed by the parties in March 2005 — is a forgery. In the alternative, Gangemi sought summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56, arguing there is no evidence to establish that defendants ever intended to be bound by the 2005 agreement.

Thereafter, plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment against the Corporation on claims arising from the Project Labor Agreement (“PLA”), a different contract than the now-contested collective bargaining agreement from 2005. Plaintiffs’ motion also sought to voluntarily dismiss with prejudice, pursuant to Rule 41, all claims against Gangemi as well as all “non-PLA” claims against the Corporation. The Corporation opposed plaintiffs’ motion and filed its own cross-motion for summary judgment.

All three pending motions have been fully briefed and each will be considered on the basis of the submissions and without oral argument.

II. BACKGROUND

The Corporation is engaged in the general construction, heavy highway, and commercial paving businesses. Corp.’s Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 68-5, ¶ 1 (“Def.’s Rule 7.1 Stat.”).

[340]*340On April 14 and September 29, 2011, the Corporation entered into written construction contracts with the Syracuse Joint Schools Construction Board (“JSCB”) to perform construction work at Fowler High School and Dr. Weeks Elementary School, two buildings owned and maintained by the Syracuse City School District. See Def.’s Rule 7.1 Stat. ¶ 2; Pis.’ Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 60-1, ¶¶ 1-3 (“Pls.’ Rule 7.1 Stat.”).

These JSCB-approved construction projects were subject to the PLA at issue in this case. PLAs are “large-scale contracts common in the construction industry. PLAs typically select a union to represent workers on a project and are often signed before construction begins.” Bldg. Indus. Elec. Contractors Ass’n v. City of New York, 678 F.3d 184, 185 (2d Cir.2012).

The JSCB’s PLA incorporated a number of collective bargaining agreements into its terms and conditions, including a 2010-2011 collective bargaining agreement (“2010-2011 CBA”) for the plaintiff Union involved in this case. Def.’s Rule 7.1 Stat. ¶ 4; Pls.’ Rule 7.1 Stat. ¶¶ 4-5; see also Rosetti Aff. Ex. C, ECF No. 60-9, 86-146 (attaching full text of PLA).1 The PLA contains two provisions identified by the parties as relevant to the instant dispute.

The first, entitled “Union Referral,” provides in part:

B. A Contractor may request by name, and the Local [Union] must honor, referral of persons who have applied to the Local [Union] for Program Work and who meet the following qualifications ....
No more than 25 per centum of the employees covered by this Agreement, per Contractor by craft, shall be hired through the special provisions above (any fraction shall be rounded to the next highest whole number)....
If requested by the appropriate Union, a Contractor utilizing this provision for by-name referrals will furnish the Union with a written certification that the individuals requested for referral meet' the [omitted qualifications set forth] above.

PLA Article 4, ^2B (some paragraph breaks added, others omitted).

The second, entitled “Employee Benefits/Supplements,” provides in part:

A. Except as provided below and in 2B, the Contractors agree that such ;payments shall be made to those established jointly trusteed employee benefit funds designated in Schedule A, and in the amounts so designated, to the extent such amounts are required by Section 220 and payment to a Schedule A fund satisfies that obligation....
B. Notwithstanding Section 2A, Contractors who designate employees pursuant to Article J, Sections 2B, and who maintain bona fide private benefit plans that satisfy the requirements of Section 220 of the Labor Law, may satisfy the above obligation with respect to those employees by providing those employees with coverage under their private benefit plans (to the extent consistent with Section 220) or by electing to pay into the applicable jointly trusteed funds designated on Schedule A on them behalf, at the Contractor’s .option. The total benefit payments to be made by a Contractor on behalf of those employees must equal the total Section 220 supplement amount and any shortfall must be paid by cash supplement to the employee.

PLA Article 11, ¶ 2A-B (emphases added) (some paragraph breaks added, others omitted).

According to plaintiffs, the Corporation failed to remit contributions and deduc[341]*341tions to the “jointly trusteed employee benefit funds designated in Schedule A” in connection with hours worked by certain employees at the JSCB Projects as required by Article 11, Section 2A of this PLA. Dooley Aff., ECF No. 60-2, ¶ 11. Plaintiffs have provided an audit report identifying those employees, the hours they worked during the relevant time periods, and the contribution amounts allegedly due and owing as a result of that work. See Dooley Aff., Ex. B, ECF No. 60-2, 12-32 (“Audit Report”).

According to the Corporation, however, the individuals identified by plaintiffs’ Audit Report were not members of' the Union, but were rather “regular [Corporation] employees” who were properly designated as the Corporation’s “core” employees in accordance with Article 4, Section 2B of the PLA. Gangemi Aff.,' ECF No. 68-2, ¶¶ 7, 11. Therefore, rather than being required to remit contributions to the plaintiff Funds pursuant to Article 11, Section 2A,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Joseph v. Treglia v. Town of Manlius
313 F.3d 713 (Second Circuit, 2002)
Jeffreys v. City of New York
426 F.3d 549 (Second Circuit, 2005)
Ferrato v. Castro
888 F. Supp. 33 (S.D. New York, 1995)
McMunn v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
191 F. Supp. 2d 440 (S.D. New York, 2002)
Passlogix, Inc. v. 2FA TECHNOLOGY, LLC
708 F. Supp. 2d 378 (S.D. New York, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
170 F. Supp. 3d 337, 2016 WL 1106445, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/central-new-york-laborers-health-welfare-fund-v-fahs-construction-nynd-2016.