Hawaii Carpenters Trust Funds et al v. Commercial Finish, Inc. et al

Filing 25

ORDER ADOPTING AS MODIFIED THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO ENTER DEFAULT JUDGMENT AND AWARD DAMAGES AGAINST DEFENDANT COMMERCIAL FINISH, INC. 24 . Signed by JUDGE ALAN C KAY on 10/31/11. (eps)CERT IFICATE OF SERVICEParticipants registered to receive electronic notifications received this document electronically at the e-mail address listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF). Participants not registered to receive electronic notifications were served by first class mail on the date of this docket entry

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII
)
)
)
)
Plaintiffs, )
)
)
vs.
)
Commercial Finish, Inc., et al.,)
)
Defendants. )
)
Hawaii Carpenters Trust Funds,
et al.,

Civ. No. 11-00064 ACK-BMK

ORDER ADOPTING AS MODIFIED THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATION TO ENTER DEFAULT JUDGMENT AND AWARD DAMAGES
AGAINST DEFENDANT COMMERCIAL FINISH, INC.
On September 12, 2011, Magistrate Judge Kurren issued
his Findings and Recommendation to Enter Default Judgment and
Award Damages against Defendant Commercial Finish, Inc.
24.)

(ECF No.

No objections to the F&R have been filed by any party.
The Court rejected a previous F&R to Enter Default

Judgment in this case because, in part, that F&R “presuppose[d]
that Plaintiffs [were] entitled to damages for unpaid
contributions, even though the complaint contains no allegation
that there are any delinquent contributions.”

(ECF No. 14 at 2.)

Plaintiffs have not submitted an amended complaint alleging that
there are delinquent contributions.

But they have submitted a

supplemental declaration from Paul Marx, the CEO of Hawaii
Benefits Administrators, stating that the Plaintiff funds
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obtained payroll records and conducted an audit, and that the
amount of contributions “now due and owing from Commercial Finish
to the Trust Funds” is $1,344.67.

(ECF No. 21.)

contains an award for that amount.

The F&R

The Court finds that the Marx

declaration is sufficient to repair the deficiency in the
complaint and establish Plaintiffs’ entitlement to a default
judgment awarding damages for unpaid contributions.1/
Yet the Court does not adopt the instant F&R in its
entirety.

The F&R that the Court rejected included an award of

$1,933.40 in attorneys’ fees.

(ECF No. 13 at 10.)

In rejecting

that F&R, the Court stated that “because the Court’s rejection of
the F&R is traceable to inadequacies in the Proposed F&R, which
was prepared by Plaintiffs’ counsel, no additional costs or
attorneys’ fees concerning the motion for entry of default
judgment shall be awarded to Plaintiffs.”

(ECF No. 14 at 2.)

The instant F&R nonetheless contains an award of $2,050.40.

The

Court rejects the F&R to the extent that it contains an increased
award for attorneys’ fees or costs.
Pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section
636(b)(1)(C) and Local Rule 74.2, The Court ADOPTS the “Findings
and Recommendation To Enter Default Judgment And Award Damages
Against Defendant Commercial Finish, Inc.” that was filed on

1/

The Court also finds that the other deficiencies
identified in the order rejecting the previous F&R have been
remedied.
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September 12, 2011, except that the award of attorneys’ fees is
REDUCED to $1,933.40.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED:

Honolulu, Hawai#i, October 31, 2011.

________________________________
Alan C. Kay
Sr. United States District Judge

Hawaii Carpenters Trust Funds v. Commercial Finish, Inc., Civ. No. 11-00063
ACK-BMK: Order Adopting as Modified the Magistrate Judge’s Findings and
Recommendation to Enter Default Judgment and Award Damages Against Defendant
Commercial Finish, Inc.

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