Greater St. Louis Construction Laborers Welfare Fund et al v. Sanders Contracting, Inc.

Filing 15

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER re: 12 MOTION for Attorney Fees filed by David Gillick, Plaintiff Jeffrey O'Connell, Plaintiff Perri Pryor, Plaintiff Doug Wachsnicht, Plaintiff John B. Morgan, Plaintiff Greater St. Louis Construction Lab orers Welfare Fund, Plaintiff Cliff Land, Plaintiff Joe Hoette, Jay Schultehenrich, Plaintiff St. Louis Vacation Fund - Vacation Plan, Plaintiff Robert J. Wesolich, Plaintiff Richard McLaughlin, Plaintiff Michael Lutz, Norman Merlo, Plaintiff Joseph Leritz, Plaintiff Corey Black, Plaintiff Richard McGuire, Plaintiff Danny Jenkins, Plaintiff Phil Hocher, Brandon Flinn, Don Willey, William L. Luth, Gary Elliott, Plaintiff John J. Smith, Jr., Plaintiff Joe Scarfino, Plaintiff Patr ick R. Pryor, Plaintiff Local Union Nos. 42 and 110, Laborers International Union of North America, AFL-CIO, Plaintiff Lou Grasse, Plaintiff Construction Laborers Pension Trust of Greater St. Louis, Plaintiff Rick Casson, Plaintiff AGC-Easter n Missouri Laborers' Joint Training Fund, Plaintiff Bradley Grant. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that defendant Sanders Contracting, Inc. shall pay plaintiffs' attorneys' fees in the amount of $333.00. Signed by District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr on 9/18/17. (CSG)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
GREATER ST. LOUIS CONSTRUCTION
LABORERS WELFARE FUND, et al.

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Plaintiffs,
vs.
SANDERS CONTRACTING, INC.,
Defendant.

No. 4:16-CV-1730SNLJ

MEMORANDUM and ORDER
This matter is before the Court on plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees (#12). Plaintiffs
brought this action to collect delinquent fringe benefit contributions from defendant Sanders
Contracting, Inc. under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA@), 29 U.S.C. §
1132. The Clerk of the Court entered default on January 10, 2017 and required the defendant to
submit to plaintiffs, within 30 days, “all of its books, ledgers, payroll records, cash disbursement
ledgers, bank statements and other documents reflecting or pertaining to all hours worked by and
wagers paid to defendant’s employees from February 1, 2015 to date.” Although no attorney has
filed an appearance for the defendant, plaintiff’s counsel has been in contact with an attorney for
defendant. Defense counsel stated that his client would produce certain required documents by
May 15, 2017, but he did not do so. Defense counsel did not respond to subsequent attempts to
communicate.
The Court granted plaintiffs’ motion to hold defendant and its representative, Craig
Sanders, in contempt of court for refusing to abide by this Court’s order. (#11) The Court ordered
defendant to pay a compliance fine of $200.00 per day for each day the above-described check
register record is not provided to plaintiffs’ counsel past the date of this Order. The Court also

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ordered that defendant pay plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in order to file the
motion for contempt.
Plaintiffs filed a motion for their attorneys’ fees and a memorandum and affidavit in
support. They seek $333.00 in attorneys’ fees. No response to that motion has been filed.
Having found that the amount sought by plaintiffs’ counsel is reasonable, the Court will grant the
motion.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that defendant Sanders Contracting, Inc. shall pay plaintiffs’
attorneys’ fees in the amount of $333.00.
Dated this 18th day of September, 2017.

STEPHEN N. LIMBAUGH, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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