Judge Nicholas Garaufis
Under ERISA, trustees for a multiemployer trust fund charge defendant construction firm’s violation of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by not making contributions on employees’ behalf. They also posited that under the CBA an employer failing to make contributions was liable for liquidated damages at a rate of 20 percent of the unpaid contributions. Defendant denied being bound, claiming the 20 percent rate provision to be in a document separate from the CBA, which called for a 10 percent rate. Granting plaintiffs judgment, the court held the funds entitled to $102,998 in unpaid contributions, $24,184 in interest thereon, and an additional $24,184 in damages on the unpaid contributions. Defendant conceded failure to make the obligated contributions, and also conceded that, as shown by plaintiffs’ auditors, its unpaid contributions totaled $166,530, and that plaintiff funds were entitled to 10 percent annual interest calculated from Jan. 4, 2010the midpoint of the delinquencyto May 10, 2012. Defendant’s unpaid contributions were offset by an undisputed $63,532 payment leaving $102,998 in unpaid contributions owed to plaintiff funds.
