Northwest Administrators Inc v. JMR Trucking Inc

Opinion

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE 9 NORTHWEST ADMINISTRATORS, INC., CASE NO. C20-0867-JCC 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 JMR TRUCKING INC., a Washington corporation, 13 Defendant. 14 15 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s motion for entry of default judgment 16 (Dkt. No. 8). Having thoroughly considered the motion and the relevant record, the Court FINDS 17 as follows: 18 1. Plaintiff properly served Defendant on June 28, 2020, (Dkt. No. 5); 19 2. The Clerk entered an order of default against Defendant on July 31, 2020, (Dkt. No. 7); 20 3. Defendant has failed to appear or otherwise defend in this action; 21 4. This action is properly within the jurisdiction of the Court and venue is proper; and 22 5. The factors set forth in Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471–72 (9th Cir. 1986), support 23 granting default judgment in Plaintiff’s favor. 24 Accordingly, the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion for entry of default judgment 25 (Dkt. No. 8). The Court further FINDS and ORDERS as follows: 26 1 1. Plaintiff is the authorized administrative agent for and assignee of the Western 2 Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund and the Washington Teamsters Welfare 3 Trust Fund (“Trusts”). (See Dkt. No. 9 at 3.) 4 2. Defendant has contractual obligations to promptly and fully report for and pay 5 contributions to the Trusts on behalf of each of its employees who are members of the 6 bargaining unit represented by Local 174 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. 7 (See Dkt. Nos. 8 at 3; 9-1 at 2–18.) 8 3. Defendant specifically accepted the Trusts’ trust agreements and thereby agreed to pay 9 the Trusts liquidated damages equal to twenty percent of all delinquent and delinquently 10 paid contributions; interest at varying rates accruing on the delinquent contributions from 11 the due date until fully paid; and attorney fees and costs which Plaintiff incurs in the 12 collection of Defendant’s unpaid obligations. (See Dkt. Nos. 8 at 3–4; 8-1 at 4; 9 at 3–4; 13 9-1 at 34, 76.) 14 4. Defendant failed to pay all contributions due for the period of June 1, 2014 through 15 December 31, 2018. (See Dkt. Nos. 8 at 4; 9 at 5–6; 9-1 at 88–97, 99–112.) 16 5. Plaintiff is entitled to an award of attorney fees and costs, and Plaintiff’s request for 17 $892.65 in attorney fees is reasonable. 18 6. Plaintiff is AWARDED judgment against Defendant in the amount $35,479.06, 19 consisting of: 20 a. $21,315.05 in contributions; 21 b. $7,485.66 in liquidated damages; 22 c. $5,700.70 in pre-judgment interest; 23 d. $892.65 in attorney fees; and 24 e. $485.00 in costs. 25 7. Plaintiff is also awarded post-judgment interest on unpaid contributions at a rate of five 26 percent (5%) per annum. 1 8. The Clerk is DIRECTED to close this case. 2 DATED this 7th day of October 2020. A 3 4 5 John C. Coughenour 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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