United States District Court, D. Alaska
BOARDS OF TRUSTEES OF THE ALASKA PIPE TRADES U.A. LOCAL 367 HEALTH & SECURITY TRUST FUND, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
POLAR REFRIG & RESTAURANT EQUIP, INC., et al., Defendants.
ORDER AND OPINION [Re: Doc. 15]
JOHN
W. SEDWICK SENIOR JUDGE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
I.
MOTION PRESENTED
At
docket 15 Plaintiffs Boards of Trustees of the Alaska Pipe
Trades U.A. Local 367 Health & Security Trust Fund,
Anchorage Alaska Area Pipe Trades Local Joint Apprenticeship
Training Fund, U.A. Locals No. 375 and 367 Supplemental
Pension Trust Fund, International Training Fund, and Plumbers
& Pipefitters National Pension Fund ("Trust
Funds") move for summary judgment against Defendant
Polar Refrig & Restaurant Equip, Inc. ("Polar")
and ask the court to award them payment of Polar's
outstanding benefit contributions for the hours worked by
Polar's employees from September 2016 through March 2018,
as well as liquidated damages, interest, audit fees, and
attorneys' fees. The Trust Funds also seek summary
judgment against Defendant Hartford Fire Insurance Company
("Hartford") to collect proceeds from the General
Contractor's License Bond Hartford issued to Polar. Polar
did not respond to the motion, but the Trust Funds filed a
reply at docket 20. Oral argument was not requested and would
not be of assistance to the court.
II.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Summary
judgment is appropriate where “there is no genuine
dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law.”[1] The materiality requirement
ensures that “[o]nly disputes over facts that might
affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will
properly preclude the entry of summary
judgment.”[2]Ultimately, “summary judgment will
not lie if the . . . evidence is such that a reasonable jury
could return a verdict for the nonmoving
party.”[3] However, summary judgment is mandated
“against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient
to establish the existence of an element essential to that
party's case, and on which that party will bear the
burden of proof at trial.”[4]
The
moving party has the burden of showing that there is no
genuine dispute as to any material fact.[5] Where the
nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at trial on a
dispositive issue, the moving party need not present evidence
to show that summary judgment is warranted; it need only
point out the lack of any genuine dispute as to material
fact.[6] Once the moving party has met this burden,
the nonmoving party must set forth evidence of specific facts
showing the existence of a genuine issue for
trial.[7]All evidence presented by the non-movant
must be believed for purposes of summary judgment, and all
justifiable inferences must be drawn in favor of the
non-movant.[8]However, the non-moving party may not rest
upon mere allegations or denials but must show that there is
sufficient evidence supporting the claimed factual dispute to
require a fact-finder to resolve the parties' differing
versions of the truth at trial.[9]
III.
UNDISPUTED FACTS
The
Trust Funds are jointly administered labor-management
employee benefit trust funds, organized and operated pursuant
to ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq. and created
under Section 302(c) of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 185
and 186(c). The Trust Funds provide employee benefits to
covered employees of employers who are signatories to a
collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In March of 2016,
Polar executed an agreement that bound it to the National
Service and Maintenance Agreement (NSMA), which is a CBA
between the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices
of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United
States and Canada, AFL-CIO and the Mechanical Service
Contractors of America. The NSMA requires Polar to contribute
to the Trust Funds-the local ones and the International
Training Fund. It incorporates the terms and conditions of
the local CBAs for determining specific contribution
requirements. Polar was also party to an agreement with the
Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund (National
Pension Fund Agreement) which required it to contribute to
that particular Trust Fund. By signing the National Pension
Fund Agreement and the NSMA, Polar agreed to the terms of the
written trust agreements. The individual trust agreements
provide for the payment of liquidated damages and interest in
the event of delinquent contributions and set how those fees
would be calculated.
Following
the execution of the various agreements, Polar hired
employees who performed work subject to the agreements'
scope of work provisions. It also obtained a $25, 000 bond
from Hartford to insure against a breach of contract.
An
audit conducted in 2018 revealed that Polar was delinquent in
its contributions to the local Trust Funds from September
2016 through March 2018 in the amount of $12, 356.81. The
audit also calculated interest on the delinquent payments to
be $1, 176.11 and liquidated damages stemming from the
delinquency to be $3, 109.82. Fees for the audit, which Polar
was obligated to pay under the agreements, amounted to $3,
612.50. It was also determined by a trust administrator that
Polar owed contributions in the amount of $10, 659.11 to the
Plumbers & Pipefitters National Pension Fund and the
International Training Fund for this same period. The
administrator calculated the interest owed to be $3, 998.25
and the liquidated damages to be $1, 537.64. The Trust Funds
subsequently filed this action to collect benefit
contributions from Polar.
Polar
has not controverted the facts set forth by the Trust Funds,
nor has it paid the amounts owed. The facts are supported by
the materials submitted in conjunction with the motion.
IV.
DISCUSSION
The
facts set forth in the motion and the supporting materials,
which have not been contested, sufficiently demonstrate that
the Trust Funds are entitled to summary judgment. Polar is
liable for unpaid contributions to the Trust Funds in the
amount of $23, 015.92.
Under
29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2), the Trust Funds are entitled to
fees as well.[10]These fees include interest on the unpaid
contributions, liquidated damages provided for under the
plan, reasonable attorneys' fees and ...