Operating Engineers' Local 324 Fringe Benefit Funds v. J. C. Holly Contracting, Inc.
Operating Engineers' Local 324 Fringe Benefit Funds v. J. C. Holly Contracting, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
This is an action brought by Plaintiffs Operating Engineers' Local 324 Fringe Benefit Funds and Trustees of the Operating Engineers' Local 324 Fringe Benefit Funds (the "Funds") for unpaid fringe benefit contributions against Defendants J.C. Holly Contracting, Inc. ("J.C. Holly"), Timothy Thayer, and Brian Thayer (Dkt. 6). The Funds are multiemployer fringe benefit trust funds established to provide benefits to employees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended,
I. BACKGROUND
J.C. Holly is a construction contractor that performs concrete and earth work, site balancing, and installs water, storm, and sanitary sewers. Pl. Statement of Material Facts ("PSMF") ¶ 3 (Dkt. 23). Defendants Timothy and Brian Thayer (collectively the "Thayers") are brothers who own and operate J. C. Holly.
On April 10, 1986, J.C. Holly entered into a collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") with the Funds in which it agreed to abide by the "Wage Rates, Fringe Benefits, and all other terms, conditions and provisions of the most current CBA Agreement between" the Funds and seven contractor associations, including the Associated General Contractors of America, Michigan, Detroit and the Upper Peninsula Chapters ("AGC"). 1986 CBA, Ex 1 to Pl. Reply (Dkt. 29-1). Neither Timothy nor Brian Thayer ever signed a CBA in their individual capacities. The Funds claim J.C. Holly is a party to two agreements: The CBA with AGC ("AGC Agreement") and the Construction Association of Michigan Agreement ("CAM Agreement"). The Thayers dispute that J.C. Holly is a party to the CAM Agreement, Def. Sur-Reply at 2 (Dkt. 34), but not that J.C. Holly is bound by the AGC Agreement.
With the exception of the associations' names, the AGC Agreement and the CAM Agreement contain identical provisions with respect to the Funds. Compare AGC Agreement ¶¶ 29-36, Ex. 18 to Pl. Reply (Dkt. 29-5), with CAM Agreement ¶¶ 29-36, Ex. 2 to Pl. Mot. (Dkt. 23-2). Timothy R. LaLonde, a Fund Coordinator for the Funds, submitted an affidavit confirming that "[t]he agreement between Operating Engineers Local 324 and the [AGC] is substantially the same as the CAM Agreement, covering identical work and containing identical provisions with respect to the Funds." LaLonde Aff., Ex. 10 to Pl. Mot. ¶ 6. The Thayers do not dispute this point.
Timothy and Brian Thayer admit that they alone make decisions about disposition of money received by J.C. Holly, including deciding whether to pay fringe benefit contributions that J.C. Holly owes to the Funds, when to pay the contribution, and the amount of the contributions to pay. PSMF ¶ 7; Def. Statement of Material Facts ("DSMF") ¶ 7 (Dkt. 28); Brian Thayer Dep., Ex. 12 to Pl. Mot. at 35:21-24 (Dkt. 23-12); Timothy Thayer Dep., Ex. 15 to Reply at 19:8-10 (Dkt. 29-2). The Funds completed two payroll audits of J.C. Holly covering work performed from September 2008 through March 2017, and April 1, 2017 through May 12, 2017. PSMF ¶ 12. The audits found that J.C. Holly's contributions for work performed from December 2012 through May 2018 were delinquent and that it maintained a balance owing of $ 81,418.34, consisting of $ 36,166.89 in fringe benefit contributions, $ 29,960.70 in liquidated damages, and *765$ 15,290.75 in interest.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
A motion for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 shall be granted "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A genuine dispute of material fact exists when there are "disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,
III. ANALYSIS
There are three issues that must be resolved in this case. First, the Funds must show that J.C. Holly failed to meet its obligation of making fringe benefit payments to the Funds. Second, the Funds must show that Timothy and Brian Thayer were fiduciaries of the unpaid fringe benefit contributions and breached their fiduciary duties. Finally, they must justify damages against Timothy and Brian Thayer. The Court will take each in turn.
A. J.C. Holly's Unpaid Fringe Benefits
The Funds' claim against J.C. Holly is brought under Section 515 of ERISA, which requires employers to make contributions to employee funds in accordance with the terms and conditions of collective bargaining agreements.
(A) the unpaid contributions,
(B) interest on the unpaid contributions,
(C) an amount equal to the greater of--
(i) interest on the unpaid contributions, or
(ii) liquidated damages provided for under the plan in an amount not in excess of 20 percent (or such higher percentage as may be permitted under Federal or State law) of the amount determined by the court under subparagraph (A),
(D) reasonable attorney's fees and costs of the action, to be paid by the defendant, and
(E) such other legal or equitable relief as the court deems appropriate.
The Thayers make much of the fact that the CAM Agreement was not part of the 1986 CBA signed by Brian Thayer. But this argument is immaterial, because J.C. Holly's obligation to make fringe benefit payments is identical under the AGC Agreement, which is expressly identified in the 1986 CBA. There is no dispute of *766material facts that J.C. Holly is obligated to make fringe benefit contributions to the Funds. There was some dispute as to the amount of unpaid contributions, but the matter was resolved through a subsequent review by Wayne B. Kless of Stefansky, Holloway & Nichols, who conducted two audits of J.C. Holly and confirmed the outstanding unpaid benefits with J.C. Holly's office manager, Janet Thayer. Kless Aff., Ex. 11 to Pl. Mot. ¶¶ 2-9 (Dkt. 23-11). The amount of unpaid fringe benefits as of August 1, 2018 is $ 36,166.89. Id. ¶ 9. The Thayers do not dispute this amount. Therefore, J.C. Holly failed to meet its obligation of making fringe benefit payments to the Funds.
B. Timothy and Brian Thayer are ERISA Fiduciaries
The Funds argue that Timothy and Brian Thayer, as President and Vice President respectively, are individually liable for breaching their fiduciary duties under ERISA to ensure that the J.C. Holly met its contribution obligations. The Thayers argue that they are not fiduciaries because the Funds unethically attempted to collect unpaid fringe benefit contributions outside of the statute of limitations. Resp. at 6-7 (Dkt. 28). They further argue that rather than misappropriating funds from J.C. Holly, they loaned money to J.C. Holly to keep the company afloat. The Thayers' arguments miss the mark.
Under ERISA, "a person is a fiduciary with respect to a plan to the extent [ ] he exercises any discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management of such plan or exercises any authority or control respecting management or disposition of its assets."
ERISA imposes personal liability on fiduciaries as follows:
Any person who is a fiduciary with respect to a plan who breaches any of the responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon fiduciaries by this subchapter shall be personally liable to make good to such plan any losses to the plan resulting from each such breach, and to restore to such plan any profits of such fiduciary which have been made through use of the assets of the plan by the fiduciary, and shall be subject to such other equitable or remedial relief as the court may deem appropriate.
The Thayers first argue that they are not fiduciaries because the Funds supposedly acted in an unethical manner by attempting to recover unpaid fringe benefits that were outside the statute of limitations. Resp. at 6-7. The Thayers offer no authority for this argument, and the Court could not locate any such authority. To be clear, any dispute regarding what portion of the benefits is beyond the statute of limitations has been resolved, as the Thayers concede. Id. at 7. But any prior efforts to collect on stale claims, whether well-intentioned or not, have no bearing on the Funds' right to proceed on claims that are no stale.
Next, the Thayers argue that there is no evidence showing that employee contributions were withheld and, therefore, there could be no misappropriation of plan assets. Resp. at 8. But there is no dispute that J.C. Holly is delinquent on contribution *767payments to the Funds. The Funds have provided two audits and associated discrepancy information charts detailing the unpaid contributions related to a J.C. Holly employee. See Ex. 4-7 to Pl. Mot. (Dkts. 23-4, 23-5, 23-6, 23-7). The Thayers make no attempt to discredit this information or explain why this documentation is somehow lacking. As noted above, this district has "universally treat[ed] delinquent payments to ERISA funds as de facto mismanagement of plan assets" from which personal liability flows. Glencorp,
The Thayers argue that they did not misappropriate funds by pointing to the fact that they have made personal loans to J.C. Holly and personally guaranteed other loans to J.C. Holly, which were used to pay other creditors, including paying legal fees, insurance, and operating expenses. Resp. at 7. But this is irrelevant to whether they breached their fiduciary duty. The fringe benefit contributions became plan assets when they were due and owing. The Thayers had possession of the plan assets and were responsible for transmitting the contributions to the Funds, which made them ERISA fiduciaries.
The Court finds that Timothy and Brian Thayer were fiduciaries with respect to plan assets and that they breached their respective fiduciary duties.
C. Damages
When an employer violates Section 515 of ERISA by failing to make contributions to employee funds as required by a CBA, the plan is entitled to recover the contributions, interest, liquidated damages, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, and all other appropriate equitable relief.
The Thayers argue that ERISA fiduciaries cannot be held individually liable for liquidated damages and interest under
Whether individuals within a company can be held responsible for damages under
However, the cases in which liquidated damages are awarded against individuals for violation of their ERISA fiduciary duties, the courts do not explain the reasoning behind the liquidated damage awards. The McGuire Steel court, on the other hand, explained that § 1332(g)(2) applies to employers only, which the company president was not. Id. at *6. The Court finds the McGuire Steel court's reasoning persuasive.
The remedies under § 1132(g)(2) flow from delinquent contributions by an "employer who is obligated to make contributions to a multiemployer plan under the terms of the plan or under the terms of a collectively bargained agreement."
The Court finds that the audits reliably show that $ 36,166.89 of unpaid contributions are owed to the Funds as of August 1, 2018. However, the Court is unable to determine the method used to support an interest award of $ 15,290.75. See Liquidated Damages and Interest Computations, Ex. 8 to Pl. Mot. (Dkt. 23-8). The interest rate on the unpaid funds appears to have been calculated at either 12% or 18% per annum and there is no explanation as to why either rate should apply. Therefore, the Court will grant in part the Funds' requested relief for unpaid fringe benefit contributions only.
IV. CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, the Court grants in part and denies in part the Funds motion for summary judgment (Dkt. 23) as follows: The motion is granted as to the liability of Timothy Thayer and Brian Thayer in the amount of $ 36,166.89 in unpaid fringe benefit contributions owing under the audits. The motion is denied *769without prejudice as to the Funds' claim for interest. The Funds can file a new motion on or before April 12, 2019 setting forth a calculation of interest with any supporting documentation. The motion is denied with prejudice as to the Funds' claim for liquidated damages.
SO ORDERED.
The Thayers also move for summary judgment in their response brief in violation of the Local Rules. Resp. at 6 (Dkt. 28). Eastern District of Michigan Local Rule 7.1 provides that "[u]nless the court permits otherwise, each motion and response to a motion must be accompanied by a single brief." Mich. LR 7.1(d)(1)(A). The Thayers' brief cannot simultaneously serve as both a single brief in support of their response and a single brief in support of an independent motion for summary judgment.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- OPERATING ENGINEERS' LOCAL 324 FRINGE BENEFIT FUNDS v. J. C. HOLLY CONTRACTING, INC.
- Status
- Published