Tutor Perini Bldg. Corp. v. S. Cal. Dist. Council of Laborers

373 F. Supp. 3d 1309
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJanuary 2, 2019
DocketCase No. 2:18-cv-01723-SVW-JC
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 373 F. Supp. 3d 1309 (Tutor Perini Bldg. Corp. v. S. Cal. Dist. Council of Laborers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tutor Perini Bldg. Corp. v. S. Cal. Dist. Council of Laborers, 373 F. Supp. 3d 1309 (C.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

The Honorable STEPHEN V. WILSON, U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

Tutor Perini Building Corp. ("Tutor Perini") brings this action against Southern California District Council of Laborers ("SCDCL") and Plaster Tenderers of Southern California Local Union 1414 *1314("Local 1414" and, collectively with SCDCL, "Laborers") to vacate an arbitration award. Tutor Perini and Laborers agreed to arbitrate a grievance from Laborers over Tutor Perini's violation of a subcontracting provision in a collective bargaining agreement between the parties. In the arbitration, Tutor Perini agreed to have the arbitrator decide the question of the arbitrator's own jurisdiction to hear Laborers' grievance. The arbitrator determined that he had jurisdiction and ruled in favor of Laborers on the substantive grievance, awarding damages to Laborers for Tutor Perini's subcontracting violation. For the reasons set forth below, the Court must uphold the arbitrator's award under the broad deference afforded to an arbitrator's substantive determinations.

In this litigation, Tutor Perini raises additional arguments for why the arbitrator's decision is invalid-namely, that the arbitrator's ruling is inconsistent with a prior proceeding in front of the National Labor Relations Board (the "NLRB" or the "Board"). As part of this argument, Tutor Perini asserted before the arbitrator and repeats before this Court that it is caught in a quandary between two competing collective bargaining agreements it signed, one with Laborers and one with Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters and Local Unions in the Twelve Southern California Counties and Nevada Affiliated with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America ("Carpenters"). However, as explained below, Tutor Perini's arguments mischaracterize the dilemma it faces regarding its obligations to both Carpenters and Laborers, and Tutor Perini misunderstands the scope of the prior proceedings in front of the Board upon which it relies.

I. Factual Background

The parties have stipulated to the pertinent facts in this case. See Dkt. 21. Tutor Perini is an Arizona corporation and conducts business in California, including Los Angeles County. Tutor Perini served as the general contractor for the Pechanga Hotel Expansion Project (the "Project") in Temecula, California.

A. The Collective Bargaining Agreements

Tutor Perini entered into collective bargaining agreements with two competing unions covering similar types of work. The first collective bargaining agreement is between Tutor Perini and SCDCL and its affiliated labor unions, including Local 1414 (the "Laborers CBA"). The operative document comprising the Laborers CBA and signed by both Tutor Perini and Laborers is the Laborers' Short-Form Agreement for the Construction Industry, Dkt. 21 Ex. 3 (the "Short-Form Agreement"), which incorporates by reference the multi-employer Construction Master Labor Agreements for the Eleven Southern California Counties and for San Diego County, including the Southern California Master Labor Agreement between Southern California General Contractors and SCDCL, Dkt. 21 Ex. 4 (the "MLA"), and the Plaster Tenders' Master Agreement between Western Wall and Ceiling Contractors Association, Inc., SCDCL and Local 1414, Dkt. 21 Ex. 5 (the "MPA").

The Short-Form Agreement states that contractors shall not "assign work covered by the Master Labor Agreements to employees represented by any other union." Id. Ex. 3, Art. II § C. The MLA similarly requires a contractor such as Tutor Perini, and its subcontractors, to subcontract work falling under Laborers' jurisdiction only to workers that are a party to a labor agreement with Laborers. Id. Ex. 4, Art. V § C. Subcontractors are defined in the MLA as "any person (other than an employee *1315covered by this Agreement), firm or corporation" who agrees to subcontract certain work for a general contractor. Dkt. 21 Ex. 4, Art. V § B. Covered work under the MLA includes "[a]ll work necessary to tend all other building trades craftsmen," id. Art. I § F.1, and all work performed by plaster tenders, id. Art. I § I. The term "Plaster Tenders," in turn, is defined in the MPA to mean workers "serving plasterers in any capacity," and plaster tenders are specifically tasked with "tend[ing] [to] the plasterer in performing all ... fireproofing." Id. Ex. 5, Art. XV § B.

The Laborers CBA sets forth grievance and arbitration procedures between the parties for all disputes. The Short-Form Agreement, which adjusts the grievance process set forth in the MLA, requires arbitration of all grievances or disputes between Tutor Perini and Laborers, including jurisdictional disputes and misassignments of work. Id. Ex. 3, Art. III § A.1 The Short-Form Agreement gives the arbitrator authority to issue a final and binding decision regarding the dispute, and in the event of a misassignment of work or subcontracting violation, the arbitrator is directed to issue an injunction to prevent continuing or future violations and shall award damages to Laborers equivalent to the lost wages of its members based on the employer's wrongful failure to hire those members for the contracting work at issue. Id. Ex. 3, Art. III § B.

Tutor Perini is also a signatory to a second collective bargaining agreement with Carpenters. The relevant provision of the collective bargaining agreement between Tutor Perini and Carpenters (the "Carpenters CBA") governing the scope of covered work is Section 105.1.1, which states that Carpenters members are entitled to perform all drywall work, including "all work in connection with the installation ... of all materials and component parts of wall and partitions ... including but not limited to ... fireproofing of beams and columns, fire proofing of chase, sound and thermal insulation materials ... and all other necessary or related work in connection therewith." Dkt. 21 Ex. G, § 105.1.1. Per Section 503 of the Carpenters CBA, Tutor Perini, or any of its subcontractors, shall not "subcontract any work to be done at the site of construction ... coming within the jurisdiction of the Carpenters except to a person, firm or corporation party to an appropriate current labor agreement with the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters." Id. § 503.

Based on the language of each agreement, there is a clear potential for overlap between the Laborers CBA and the Carpenters CBA regarding plaster tendering work-which the Court herein will refer to as "fireproofing support work." On the one hand, the Laborers CBA claims a right to work that "serves plasterers in any capacity," which includes tending to plasterers that perform fireproofing. On the other hand, the Carpenters CBA claims a right to "all other necessary or related work in connection" with fireproofing, which plausibly covers the same plaster tendering work in support of the fireproofing craftsmen.

The presence of conflict over fireproofing support work presents a significant problem for Tutor Perini. As the general contractor, Tutor Perini is obligated to ensure that it subcontracts work covered by each union's collective bargaining agreement to a signatory with that agreement, *1316so that the respective union's employees are guaranteed to receive the covered work.

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Bluebook (online)
373 F. Supp. 3d 1309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tutor-perini-bldg-corp-v-s-cal-dist-council-of-laborers-cacd-2019.