Iron Workers District Council of Southern Ohio and Vicinity Benefit Trust et al v. Coit

Filing 17

ORDER: Plaintiff's (Doc. 15 ) Ex Parte Application for an Order Correcting Amended Order on Default Judgment Entered 7/28/2010 is denied. As the Court's previous order concluded, Plaintiffs are entitled to $86,390.11 in damages for contributions, interest, and liquidated damages, $3,700.00 in attorney's fees, and $500.00 in costs. Signed by Judge William Q. Hayes on 8/10/2010. (mdc)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 IRON WORKERS DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN OHIO AND VICINITY BENEFIT TRUST; IRON WORKERS DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN OHIO AND VICINITY PENSION TRUST; IRON WORKERS DISTRICT COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN OHIO AND VICINITY ANNUITY TRUST, Plaintiffs, vs. FRANK MICHAEL COIT, an individual and doing business as Lone Star Development, Defendant. HAYES, Judge: The matter before the Court is Plaintiff's Ex Parte Application for an Order Correcting Amended Order on Default Judgment Entered July 28, 2010. (Doc. # 15). BACKGROUND On September 22, 2009, Plaintiffs Iron Workers District Council of Southern Ohio and Vicinity Benefit Trust, Iron Workers District Council of Southern Ohio and Vicinity Pension Trust, and Iron Workers District Council of Southern Ohio and Vicinity Annuity Trust (collectively the "Trust Funds") initiated this action by filing their complaint. (Doc. # 1). The complaint alleges Defendant Frank Michael Coit, doing business as Lone Star Development ("Lone Star"), failed to pay contributions to Plaintiffs pursuant to three Trust Agreements. Id.
-109cv2071 WQH (RBB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
CASE NO. 09cv2071 WQH (RBB) ORDER

1 at 2-3. The complaint alleges Coit and Lone Star Development, formerly a corporation, are 2 alter-egos of one another and that Coit is therefore liable for the business's failure to pay these 3 contributions. Id. at 8-9. The complaint alleges four claims: (1) breach of a collective 4 bargaining agreement with Iron Workers Local 22, which required Coit to adhere to the Trust 5 Agreements with Plaintiffs; (2) breach of the Trust Agreements; (3) violation of the Employee 6 Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"); and (4) "damages for alter ego violations 7 establishing liability for Defendant." Id. at 9-11. Plaintiffs seek $86,685.89 in actual damages 8 for Defendant's failure to pay the trust fund, liquidated damages, interest, in addition to 9 attorney's fees and costs. Id. at 12. On October 7, 2009, the Trust Funds served Coit. (Doc. 10 # 4 at 2). Coit failed to file an answer to the complaint. On November 2, 2009, the Trust 11 Funds requested an entry of default. (Doc. # 5). On November 3, 2009, the Clerk of the Court 12 entered default against Coit. (Doc. # 6). On January 26, 2009, the Court issued an Order to 13 Show Cause as to why this case should not be dismissed for failure to timely move for default 14 judgment. (Doc. # 7). The order permitted the Trust Funds to move for default judgment 15 within thirty days. Id. at 2. 16 On February 2, 2010, the Trust Funds filed their first Motion for Default Judgment.

17 (Doc. # 8). On April 27, 2010, the Court denied the motion without prejudice. (Doc. # 11). 18 The Court held that the factual allegations of the complaint were sufficient to sustain the 19 causes of action pleaded in the complaint, but the Trust Funds had failed to establish damages 20 by a preponderance of the evidence because of errors in the calculations presented to the Court 21 and failure to provide sufficient evidence of attorney's fees. Id. at 6. The Court allowed the 22 Trust Funds to file an amended Motion for Default Judgment within thirty days. Id. at 7. 23 On May 24, 2010, the Trust Funds filed their second Motion for Default Judgment.

24 (Doc. # 12). On July 28, 2010, the Court granted the Trust Funds' second Motion for Default 25 Judgment and awarded $86,390.11 in damages. (Doc. # 13). Due to a typographical error, the 26 Court issued an amended order the same day. (Doc. # 14). On August 3, 2010, the Trust 27 Funds filed their Ex Parte Application for an Order Correcting Amended Order on Default 28 Judgment Entered July 28, 2010. (Doc. # 15).
-209cv2071 WQH (RBB)

1 2

ANALYSIS The Trust Funds contend that this Court "inadvertently excluded the amount of liquidate

3 damages ($7,628.90) and interest" ($1,245.52)" from the total amount of damages the Court 4 awarded despite ruling that the Trust Funds are entitled to liquidated damages and interest. 5 (Doc. # 15 at 1). The Trust Funds contend the total amount of damages the Court should have 6 awarded was $99,518.53. Id. 7 Although the Trust Funds now assert they moved for $99,518.53 in damages, their

8 second Motion for Default Judgment states: "[t]he total amount owed to the Trust Funds in 9 unpaid contributions, liquidated damages and interest is $86,390.11." (Doc. # 12-1 at 8) 10 (emphasis added). The Court already awarded the Trust Funds $7,628.90 in liquidated 11 damages and $1245.52 in interest. These figures were included in the total damages award of 12 $86,390.11. See Declaration of Peggy Gotthard, ¶¶ 29-32. 13 The evidence the Trust Funds presented established that Defendant owes the Benefit

14 Trust $29,160.48 in employer contributions, $2,916.04 in liquidated damages, and $583.20 in 15 interest; owes the Pension Trust $31,347.61 in employer contributions, $ 3,134.75 in liquidated 16 damages, and $331.16 in interest; and owes the Annuity Trust $16,953.60 in employer 17 contributions, $1,632.11 in liquidated damages, and $331.16 in interest. Adding these figures 18 establishes that Defendant owes $77,461.69 in employer contributions, not $86,390.11 as the 19 Trust Funds now assert. The Court added $7,682.90 in liquidated damages and $1,245.52 in 20 interest to the $77,461 in employer contributions, for a total damages award of $86,390.11. 21 The following chart shows the damages amounts for each trust fund for each category

22 of damages: 23 24 25 26 27 28
Total Per Trust Fund: $32,659.72 $34,813.52 $18,916.87 Total: $86,390.11 Employer Contributions Liquidated Damages Prejudgment Interest Benefit Trust $29,160.48 $2,916.04 $583.20 Pension Trust $31,347.61 $3,134.75 $331.16 Annuity Trust $16,953.60 $1,632.11 $331.16 Total per category: $77,461.69 $7,682.90 $1,245.52

-3-

09cv2071 WQH (RBB)

1 There is no error in the prior order which requires correction. The Trust Funds' motion is 2 denied. 3 4 CONCLUSION IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Ex Parte Application for an Order

5 Correcting Amended Order on Default Judgment Entered July 28, 2010 (Doc. # 15) is 6 DENIED. As the Court's previous order concluded, Plaintiffs are entitled to $86,390.11 7 in damages for contributions, interest, and liquidated damages, $3,700.00 in attorney's fees, 8 and $500.00 in costs. No later than fourteen (14) days from the date of this Order, 9 Plaintiff shall email a proposed judgment consistent with this Order in WordPerfect or 10 Word format to [e-mail]. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
-409cv2071 WQH (RBB)

DATED: August 10, 2010 WILLIAM Q. HAYES United States District Judge