Finkel v. MJC Electric, Inc. et al

Filing 22

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The Court has reviewed the record and, finding no clear error, adopts Magistrate Judge Gold's R&R as the opinion of the Court. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment against the defendants as follows. (see order for details). Ordered by Chief Judge Carol Bagley Amon on 9/12/2014. c/m to defendants (fwd for judgment) (Fernandez, Erica)

FILED

IN CLERK'S OFFICE

U.S. DISTRl(]Y ~01JRT E.D.N.Y.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

SEP152014

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BROOKLYN OFFICE

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DR. GERALD FINKEL, as Chairman of the
Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry,

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
MEMORANDUM & ORDER
I 3-CV-3293 (CBA)(SMG)

Plaintiff,
-againstMJC ELECTRIC, INC., d/b/a/ MJC
ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS, INC., and
MICHAEL CASTELANO,
Defendants.

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AMON, Chief United States District Judge.

On June 10, 2013, plaintiff Dr. Gerald Finkel, as Chairman of the Joint Industry Board of
the Electrical Industry ("JIB") and fiduciary and administrator of various employee benefit plans,
commenced this action against MJC Electric Inc. ("MJC") and its principal, Michael Castellano
(together, "defendants"). (Docket Entry ("D.E.") # 1.) Plaintiff alleges that defendants failed to
make certain contributions to employee benefit plans in violation of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") and the Labor Management Relations Act ("LMRA").
Defendants failed to appear or otherwise defend this action and the Clerk of Court noted the
default of defendant MJC and defendant Castellano on July 25 and July 26, 2013, respectively.
On December 6, 2013, plaintiff filed a motion for default judgment. (D.E. # 11.) This Court
referred the motion to Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold for report and recommendation.
On July 30, 2014, Magistrate Judge Gold issued a Report and Recommendation ("R&R")
recommending that the Court grant plaintiffs motion for default judgment and award plaintiff
damages for: (I) audit deficiencies; (2) amounts due under a stipulation entered into between JIB
and defendants; (3) unpaid contributions; (4) interest on late-paid contributions; and (5)
liquidated damages. (D.E. # 20.)
No party has objected to the R&R, and the time for doing so has passed. When deciding

I

whether to adopt a report and recommendation, a district court "may accept, reject, or modify, in
whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge." 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(b)(l). To accept those portions of the R&R to which no timely objection has been made,
"a district court need only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record."
Jarvis v. N. Am. Globex Fund, L.P., 823 F. Supp. 2d 161, 163 (E.D.N.Y. 2011) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted).
The Court has reviewed the record and, finding no clear error, adopts Magistrate Judge
Gold's R&R as the opinion of the Court. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment
against the defendants as follows. Defendants MJC and Castellano are jointly and severally
liable for: (I) the amount due under the stipulation, $52,499.65, plus prejudgment interest at the
rate of3% per annum from January 29, 2014 to the date of judgment; and (2) $10,499.94 in
liquidated damages for the amount due under the stipulation. 1 Defendant MJC is further liable
for: (1) $20,976 for the audit deficiency; (2) $383,632.94 in unpaid contributions, plus 3%
interest per annum from August 24, 2013 to the date of judgment on $371,446.55 of that amount,
and 10% interest per annum, compounded monthly, from August 24, 2013 to the date of
judgment on $12,186.39 of that amount; (3) $6,983.09 in interest on late-paid contributions; and
(4) $76,726.59 in liquidated damages for unpaid contributions.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: Brooklyn, New York
September IZ.. , 2014

s/Carol Bagley Amon
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C'arol B~gle/ AI{iJn

Chief United States District Judge

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The R&R contains a minor error on page 17. It states that Castellano owes 3% interest on both the amount due
under the stipulation and the liquidated damages for the amount due under the stipulation. The discussion of
liquidated damages at pages 15-16 of the R&R, however, does not indicate that 3% interest applies to the award of
liquidated damages, and interest is not applied to the liquidated damages judgment against MJC, ~ R&R at 16).
Accordingly, the Court clarifies that Castellano owes 3% interest only on the amount still due under the stipulation,
$52,499.65, rather than the total amount of the judgment against him, $62,999.59.

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