Trustees of the Local 522 Pension Fund et al v. Triboro Bar & Restaurant Supply Co., Inc.

Filing 16

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS: For the reasons set forth in the enclosed Memorandum and Order, Magistrate Judge Bloom's thorough and well-reasoned R&R 15 is adopted as the opinion of the court. The court grants plaintiffs' am ended motion for default judgment 10 and orders default judgment to be entered against defendant for a total of $9,627.84, calculated as follows: $3,930.00 in unpaid contributions due to the Funds; $216.42 in interest on the unpaid c ontributions; an additional award of $216.42 pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2)(C); $4,875.00 in attorney's fees; and $390 in costs. Plaintiffs are directed to serve a copy of this Order on defendant at its last known addres s, and file proof of service on ECF no later than January 20, 2014. The Clerk of Court is respectfully requested to enter judgment in accordance with this Order and to close this case. Ordered by Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto on 1/14/2014. (Tsai, Denise)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
--------------------------------------- X
TRUSTEES OF THE LOCAL 522 PENSION FUND
And TRUSTEES OF THE LOCAL 522 WELFARE
FUND OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY,
ORDER ADOPTING REPORT
AND RECOMMENDATION

Plaintiffs,
-against-

12-CV-163 (KAM)(LB)

TRIBORO BAR & RESTAURANT SUPPLY CO.,
INC.,
X
Defendant.
---------------------------------------

MATSUMOTO, United States District Judge:
Plaintiffs, Trustees of the Local 522 Pension Fund
(“Pension Fund”) and Trustees of the Local 522 Welfare Fund of
New York and New Jersey (“Welfare Fund”) (collectively, the
“Funds”), brought this action against Triboro Bar & Restaurant
Supply Co., Inc. (“Triboro” or “defendant”), pursuant to Sections
502 and 515 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1132 and 1145, and Section 301 of
the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (“Taft-Hartley Act”),
29 U.S.C. § 185, seeking to recover certain unpaid contributions
due to the Funds.

(See generally ECF No. 1, Complaint filed

1/13/12 (“Compl.”).)

In addition, plaintiffs seek interest on

those unpaid contributions, liquidated damages, reasonable
attorney’s fees, and costs.

(Id. at ¶ 24.)

On February 24,

2013, the court entered a default judgment against defendant as

to liability.

(ECF No. 8, Memorandum and Order dated 2/24/13.)

Plaintiffs now move for a judgment as to damages pursuant to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55.

(ECF No. 10, Amended Motion

for Default Judgment filed 3/1/13.)

The motion was referred to

Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom for a Report and Recommendation
(“R&R”).
Presently before the court is the R&R issued by
Magistrate Judge Bloom on December 27, 2013, recommending this
court grant plaintiff’s amended motion for a default judgment and
enter default judgment against defendant for a total of
$9,616.20, calculated as follows:

$3,930.00 in unpaid

contributions due to the Funds; $210.60 in interest on the unpaid
contributions calculated up to the date of the R&R; an additional
award of $210.60 pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2)(C); $4,875.00
in attorney’s fees; and $390 in costs.

(ECF No. 15, Report and

Recommendation dated 12/27/13 (“R&R”) at 11.)
Notice of the R&R was sent electronically to the
parties appearing in the docket via the court’s electronic filing
system on December 27, 2013.

As explicitly noted at the end of

the R&R, any objections to the R&R were to be filed on or before
January 10, 2014.

(R&R at 11.)

The statutory period for filing

objections has expired, and no objections to Magistrate Judge
Bloom’s R&R have been filed.
In reviewing a Report and Recommendation, the district

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court “may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the
findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.”
U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C).

28

Where no objection to the Report and

Recommendation has been filed, the district court “need only
satisfy itself that that there is no clear error on the face of
the record.”

Urena v. State of New York, 160 F. Supp. 2d 606,

609-10 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (quoting Nelson v. Smith, 618 F. Supp.
1186, 1189 (S.D.N.Y. 1985)).
Upon a review of the R&R, and considering that the
parties have failed to object to any of Magistrate Judge Bloom’s
thorough and well-reasoned recommendations, the court finds no
clear error in Magistrate Judge Bloom’s R&R and hereby affirms
and adopts the R&R as the opinion of the court. The court grants
plaintiffs’ amended motion for default judgment and orders
default judgment to be entered against defendant for a total of
$9,627.84, calculated as follows: $3,930.00 in unpaid
contributions due to the Funds; $216.42 in interest on the unpaid
contributions 1; an additional award of $216.42 pursuant to 29
1

The R&R recommends that plaintiffs should be awarded interest on
the unpaid contributions until the date of the R&R, December 27, 2013
to compensate for the lower interest rate recommended therein. (R&R at
7-8.) Taking into account the R&R’s recommendation, the court has
calculated the interest on the unpaid contributions until the date of
this Order, January 14, 2014. Accordingly, as calculated below,
plaintiffs are owed $216.42 in interest on the unpaid contributions.
Time Period

Units of Time

Rate

March 15, 2012 –
January 14, 2014

670 days

3.0% / 365

3

Interest due on
$3,930.00
$216.42

U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2)(C); $4,875.00 in attorney’s fees; and $390 in
costs.
Plaintiffs are directed to serve a copy of this Order
on defendant at its last known address, and file proof of service
on ECF no later than January 20, 2014.

The Clerk of Court is

respectfully requested to enter judgment in accordance with this
Order and to close this case.

SO ORDERED.
Dated:

January 14, 2014
Brooklyn, New York
_________ _/s/_
Kiyo A. Matsumoto
United States District Judge
Eastern District of New York

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