Silverman v. Miranda

213 F. Supp. 3d 519, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136902, 2016 WL 5793395
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 30, 2016
Docket6 Civ. 13222 (ER)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 213 F. Supp. 3d 519 (Silverman v. Miranda) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Silverman v. Miranda, 213 F. Supp. 3d 519, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136902, 2016 WL 5793395 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

Ramos, District Judge

This is a decade-long dispute between two employee benefit funds concerning the right to contributions made by employers pursuant to a number of collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”). Plaintiffs are the trustees of the Union Mutual Medical Fund (“UMMF”) and the UMMF (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), and Defendants are the trustees of the Teamsters Local 210 Affiliated Health and Insurance Fund (“Local 210 Fund”) and the Local 210 Fund (collectively, “Defendants”). After significant motion practice, various rulings by this Court, and an appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint on August 13, 2015, alleging that Defendants failed to remit to Plaintiffs certain employer contributions as required by the CBAs, in viola[521]*521tion of Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (“LMRA”). Pending before the Court are the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, and Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND1

Plaintiff UMMF is a collectively bargained group health plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) that was established to obtain and provide medical benefits to its participants and beneficiaries. Pis.’ 56.1 ¶ 1. The UMMF’s participants and beneficiaries primarily consist of the retired members of two unions, the Allied Trades Council and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 210 (“Local 210 Union”), and their spouses. Id. ¶ 2. Defendant Local 210 Fund is an employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA that was established to provide health insurance to its participants, who are primarily current members of the Local 210 Union and their spouses. Id. ¶ 12.

The Allied Welfare Fund (“AWF”) is also a collectively bargained employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA that provides benefits to its participants, who are primarily active union members. Id. ¶ 8. Both the Local 210 Fund and the AWF are funded by contributions from employers (“Contributing Employers”) made pursuant to the CBAs. Id. ¶¶ 8, 14; see Defs.’ Counter-56.1 ¶7. On April 30, 2006, the AWF was bifurcated and a portion of its assets (Plaintiffs contend it was 80% while Defendants contend it was 70%) was transferred to the Local 210 Fund. Defs.’ Counter-56.1 ¶ 9. Thereafter, most of the Contributing Employers who had previously contributed to the AWF began contributing to the Local 210 Fund. Pis.’ 56.1 ¶ 10.

The various CBAs provide, in relevant part, that:

From and out of the contributions made to the Allied Welfare Fund as specified above, Eight Dollars per employee per week shall be unconditionally and irrevocably allocated and paid to the Union Mutual Medical Fund ... for the benefit of retired employees of the Employer and retired employees of all other employers similarly situated and their families ....

Id. ¶ 7; see generally Declaration of Robert J. Kipnees, Esq., dated June 15, 2010 (Doc. 125), Ex. G (excerpts of CBAs). Plaintiffs contend that pursuant to this provision, the AWF and, more recently, the Local 210 Fund were obligated to remit a portion of the money collected from the Contributing Employers to the UMMF. Pis.’ 56.1 ¶ 6. Defendants deny that they were under any such obligation but admit that they paid the UMMF in accordance with the terms of the CBAs. Defs.’ Counter-56.1 ¶¶ 4, 6.

In 2000, the AWF trustees filed suit against Duane Reade in the Southern Dis[522]*522trict of New York, claiming that Duane Reade, as a Contributing Employer, failed to make the required contributions pursuant to its CBA. Pls.’ 56.1 ¶ 18. In 2006, the AWF and Duane Reade settled their dispute for $825,000. Id. ¶¶ 19-20. The Duane Reade settlement was received by the AWF in satisfaction of Duane Reade’s obligation under its CBA to pay contributions to the AWF. Id. ¶ 21. Plaintiffs claim that 80% of the settlement monies were transferred to the Local 210 Fund as a consequence of the bifurcation of the AWF. Id. ¶ 22. The UMMF received no portion of those proceeds. Id.

In January 2006, the Local 210 Union began persuading Contributing Employers to amend their respective CBAs to reduce the contributions remitted to the UMMF (and, necessarily, increase the contributions retained by the AWF and Local 210 Fund). Id. ¶ 25. Whereas the CBAs then in place had provided that $8.00 per employee per week would be allocated to the UMMF, the Local 210 Union persuaded Contributing Employers that $0.10 per employee per week should be allocated to the UMMF. Id. ¶ 26. In March or April 2006, without the UMMF’s consent, the CBAs were amended to reflect this reduction. Id. ¶¶ 28-29. As a result of the amendments, the monthly contributions received by the UMMF from the AWF and/or the Local 210 Fund significantly decreased, from approximately $59,000 to $74,000 per month in the first three months of 2006 to $449 in January 2007. Id. ¶¶ 30-31.

Plaintiffs sued Defendants in November 2006, seeking remittance of the employer contributions allegedly due, including a portion of the proceeds from the Duane Reade settlement. Doc. I.2 In June 2008, Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint. Doc. 54. Construing Plaintiffs’ allegations as claims under ERISA, the district court awarded judgment in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $2,460,777.33 plus interest. Silverman v. Miranda, 918 F.Supp.2d 200 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (Jones, J.) (“Miranda III’), vacated sub nom. Silverman v. Teamsters Local 210 Affiliated Health & Ins. Fund, 761 F.3d 277 (2d Cir. 2014) (“Silverman”).3 The Second Circuit vacated the award, finding that Plaintiffs failed to state claims under ERISA, and remanded the action for the district court to consider whether to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims, construed as alleging state law breach of contract. Silverman, 761 F.3d 277. On remand, this Court concluded that Plaintiffs’ allegations sufficiently alleged state law claims for breach of contract but held that the claims were preempted by Section 301 of the LMRA. Silverman v. Miranda, 116 F.Supp.3d 289 (S.D.N.Y. 2015) (“Miranda IV”). The Court granted Plaintiffs leave to amend their Complaint a second time to assert violations of the LMRA, and Plaintiffs did so on August 13, 2015. Doc. 325. The parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment are now before the Court.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate where “the movant shows that there is no [523]*523genuine dispute as to any material fact.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). “An issue of fact is ‘genuine’ if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party.” Senno v. Elmsford Union Free Sch. Dist., 812 F.Supp.2d 454, 467 (S.D.N.Y. 2011) (citing SCR Joint Venture L.P. v. Warshawsky, 559 F.3d 133, 137 (2d Cir. 2009)). A fact is “material” if it might affect the outcome of the litigation under the governing law. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
213 F. Supp. 3d 519, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136902, 2016 WL 5793395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/silverman-v-miranda-nysd-2016.