Connors v. Paybra Mining Co.

817 F. Supp. 34, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3731, 1993 WL 85771
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. West Virginia
DecidedMarch 11, 1993
DocketCiv. A. No. 2:90-1061
StatusPublished

This text of 817 F. Supp. 34 (Connors v. Paybra Mining Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Connors v. Paybra Mining Co., 817 F. Supp. 34, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3731, 1993 WL 85771 (S.D.W. Va. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HADEN, Chief Judge.

Pending are the parties pretrial briefs on the issues of (1) the statute of limitations1 and (2) the contractual liability of Paybra Mining Company, Inc. (Paybra). The Court treats these filings as cross motions for partial summary judgment. The Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on the statute of limitations issue and DENIES Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on that same issue. Concluding genuine issues of material fact remain, the Court also DENIES the parties cross motions for summary judgment on the issue of the contractual liability of Paybra.

The Plaintiffs second amended complaint is grounded in both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). Plaintiffs assert Defendants are delinquent on contributions due and owing certain pension and benefit plans. The Court first addresses the statute of limitations issue.

[36]*36I. THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Neither ERISA nor the LMRA contain a statute of limitations for actions seeking recovery of delinquent contributions. See, e.g., Robbins v. Iowa Road Builders Co., 828 F.2d 1348, 1353 (8th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1234, 1240, 108 S.Ct. 2899, 2914, 101 L.Ed.2d 933, 945 (1988). When Congress fails to impose a limitations period for a federal claim, the court will utilize the “most appropriate” or “most analogous” state limitations period. See, e.g., DelCostello v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151, 158, 103 S.Ct. 2281, 2287, 76 L.Ed.2d 476 (1983). The court determines the appropriate state limitations period “by examining] ... the nature of the federal claim and the federal policies involved.” Trustees of the Wyoming Laborers Health and Welfare Plan v. Morgen & Oswood Constr. Co., Inc., 850 F.2d 613, 618 (10th Cir.1988) (quoting United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Mitchell, 451 U.S. 56, 60-61, 101 S.Ct. 1559, 1563, 67 L.Ed.2d 732 (1981)).

In actions seeking recovery of delinquent contributions under ERISA, the overwhelming majority of circuit courts utilize the state limitations period for contract actions. Wyoming Laborers, 850 F.2d at 620 (citing cases) (stating “almost every court that has addressed a claim for delinquent contributions under ERISA has characterized that claim as a contract claim”); Robbins, 828 F.2d at 1354; Trustees for Alaska Laborers v. Ferrell, 812 F.2d 512, 517 (9th Cir.1987); Central States S.E. & S.W. Areas Pension Fund v. Kraftco, Inc., 799 F.2d 1098, 1107 (6th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1086, 107 S.Ct. 1291, 94 L.Ed.2d 147 (1987); Trustees of the Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ Local Union Officers and Employees Pension Fund v. Journeymen Plasterers’ Protective and Benev. Soc., 794 F.2d 1217, 1221 n. 8 (7th Cir.1986). But see Teamsters Pension Trust Fund v. John Tinney Delivery Serv., Inc., 732 F.2d 319, 322 (3rd Cir.1984).2

Plaintiffs assert West Virginia’s ten-year limitation period on contract actions is applicable. W.VaCode § 55-2-6 (1981). Defendants assert the two-year limitation period in the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act is applicable. W.Va.Code § 21-5C-8(d) (1989).

In Robbins, the court was also presented with a choice between wage payment collection or contract limitations periods. Robbins, 828 F.2d at 1353. In choosing the latter, the court, inter alia, noted the timing differences between wage payment collection actions and delinquent contribution actions:

In general, a dissatisfied employee will realize when the employer has failed to afford him or her a particular employment benefit and can then promptly initiate an action against the employer_ [In contrast] [t]he trustees may not discover underpayments until a beneficiary applies for benefits, which can be some years after the employment relationship has ended.

Robbins, 828 F.2d at 1354 (emphasis added).

Further, the Wyoming Laborers decision noted the Supreme Court’s view that the relationship between trustees and employers is founded on contract. Wyoming Laborers, 850 F.2d at 620. The Court finds the reasoning of Robbins and Wyoming Laborers persuasive. The contractual nature of Plaintiffs’ delinquent contributions claim and Congressional policy on maintaining the integrity of [37]*37pension trust funds3 indicate the longer contract limitations period is the most “appropriate” here.

For these reasons and others, the Court concludes West Virginia’s ten-year limitation period on contract actions is applicable to the instant ease. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on the statute of limitations issue and DENIES Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the same issue.

II. THE CONTRACTUAL LIABILITY OF PAYBRA MINING COMPANY, INC.

Ordinarily, the construction and interpretation of a contract is a question of law for the court. See Murray v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp., 591 F.Supp. 1550, 1553 (S.D.W.Va.1984), aff'd, 767 F.2d 912 (4th Cir.1985). However, when parties assert conflicting intentions based upon the same contractual language, the resulting ambiguity presents a genuine issue of material fact. Atalla v. Abdul-Baki, 976 F.2d 189, 195 (4th Cir.1992). The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has held that

[ojnly an unambiguous writing justiflefs] summary judgment, and no writing is unambiguous if ‘susceptible of two reasonable interpretations.’ ... If there is more than one permissible inference as to intent to be drawn from the language employed, the question of the parties’ actual intention is a triable issue of fact.

Id. at 192 (quoting Bear Brand Hosiery Co. v. Tights, Inc., 605 F.2d 723, 726 (4th Cir.1979) and American Fidelity & Cas. Co. v. London & Edinburgh Ins. Co., 354 F.2d 214, 216 (4th Cir.1965)).

Paybra is signatory to a standard 1988 National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement (NBCWA). One provision of that agreement reads as follows:

Failure of any Employer signatory hereto to make full and prompt payments to the Trusts specified in this Article in the manner and on the dates herein provided shall be deemed a violation of this agreement.

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817 F. Supp. 34, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3731, 1993 WL 85771, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/connors-v-paybra-mining-co-wvsd-1993.