District Council of New York City and Vicinity of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America v. Homeric Contracting Co. Inc.
Filing
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MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER: The petition to confirm the arbitration award is granted. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment as follows: 1) In the amount of $440.40, allocated to Christian Castro; $2,642.40, allocated to the Union; & #036;2,694.16, allocated to the NYCDCC Benefit Funds; and $850.00, allocated to Arbitrator Richard Adelman; plus prejudgment interest at the statutory rate accruing from June 8, 2024; 2) Attorney's fees in the amount of $1,920.00; 3) Court costs in the amount of $659.83; and The Clerk is further directed to close this case and to close any pending motions. SO ORDERED (Signed by Judge John G. Koeltl on 1/28/2025) (ks) Transmission to Orders and Judgments Clerk for processing.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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DISTRICT COUNCIL OF NEW YORK CITY
AND VICINITY OF THE UNITED
BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND
JOINERS OF AMERICA,
Petitioner,
24-cv-7273 (JGK)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
AND ORDER
- against HOMERIC CONTRACTING CO. INC. D/B/A
HOMERIC CONTRACTING,
Respondent.
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JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge:
The District Council of New York City and Vicinity of the
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (“the
Union”) has filed a petition to confirm an arbitration award
(“Petition” or “Pet.”). See ECF No. 1. The respondent, Homeric
Contracting Co. Inc. (“Homeric Contracting” or “the Employer”)
has not opposed the Petition. In addition to moving for summary
judgment to confirm the award, the petitioner seeks attorney’s
fees, costs, and prejudgment interest. For the reasons outlined
below, the Petition is granted.
I.
The following uncontested facts are taken from the Petition
and the documents submitted in support of the Petition.
The Union is a labor organization within the meaning of
Section 2(5) of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 152(5). Pet. ¶ 1. Homeric
Contracting is an employer within the meaning of Section 2(2) of
the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 152(2). Id. ¶ 2. This Court has
jurisdiction over the Petition pursuant to Section 301(c) of the
LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 185(c).
At all relevant times, Homeric Contracting was subject to a
collective bargaining agreement, known as the New York City
School Construction Authority Project Labor Agreement (the
“PLA”). See ECF No. 26, Ex. J (“PLA”). In December 2023, a
dispute between the parties arose out of work Homeric
Contracting performed at P.S. 230Q at 53-11 Springfield
Boulevard, in Queens, New York. See Pet. ¶¶ 6, 8. Specifically,
the Union contested Homeric Contracting’s failure to use the
Union’s job referral service—the Out of Work List, its failure
to have a carpenter shop steward onsite for work the respondent
performed on December 4, 2023 and December 6, 2023, and its
employment of non-bargaining unit employees to perform
bargaining unit work on December 6, 2023—all in violation of the
PLA. Id. ¶ 8.
The PLA provides for final and binding arbitration of
disputes between the parties, names an arbitrator to hear
disputes, and provides that fees and expenses of arbitration
should be borne equally by the union and the contractor. Id.
¶ 7; see PLA art. 9, § 1. Accordingly, Arbitrator Richard
Adelman held a hearing on May 15, 2024. Pet. ¶ 9; Pet., Ex. C
(“Award”). Despite receiving notice, Homeric Contracting failed
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to appear, and the arbitrator found that Homeric Contracting
violated the PLA by failing to use the Out of Work list, failing
to employ a shop steward for work performed on December 4, 2023,
and failing to employ a shop steward and five other unit
employees on December 6, 2023. Pet. ¶¶ 10–12.
In an order dated May 28, 2024, the arbitrator directed
Homeric Contracting to pay $440.40 to the Union, representing
eight hours of pay at a rate of $55.05 per hour; and $384.88 to
the New York City District Council of Carpenters Benefit Funds
(“the Fund”), representing eight hours of pay at a rate of
$48.11 per hour. Id. ¶ 12; Award at 2–3. Both payments redressed
the violations from December 4, 2023. For the violations on
December 6, 2023, the arbitrator directed Homeric Contracting to
pay $2,202 to the Union, representing 40 hours of pay at a rate
of $55.05 per hour; $440.40 to Christian Castro—who would have
been one of the six unit members employed on the job,
representing 8 hours of pay at a rate of $55.05 per hour; and
$2,309.28, representing 48 hours of pay at a rate of $48.11 per
hour, to the Fund. Id. The arbitrator also directed the parties
to share the $1,700 cost of the arbitrator’s fees, pursuant to
the terms of the PLA. Award at 3; PLA at art. 9, § 1. Homeric
Contracting’s share of the arbitrator’s fee was $850.
On June 5, 2024, the Union sent Homeric Contracting a
letter demanding payment and informing Homeric Contracting that
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if payment was not received by June 7, 2024, the Union would
move to confirm the Award in federal court. Pet. ¶ 14; Pet., Ex.
D. Homeric Contracting has not yet paid any amount of the Award.
II.
Homeric Contracting failed to respond to the Petition.
However, the Court must do more than simply issue a default
judgment in favor of the petitioner. The Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit has explained that a default judgment is
generally inappropriate in a proceeding to confirm or vacate an
arbitration award because “[a] motion to confirm or vacate an
[arbitration] award is generally accompanied by a record . . .
[and] the petition and accompanying record should [be] treated
as akin to a motion for summary judgment based on the movant’s
submissions.” D.H. Blair & Co., Inc. v. Gottdiener, 462 F.3d 95,
109 (2d Cir. 2006).
The standard for granting summary judgment is well
established. “The [C]ourt shall grant summary judgment if the
movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material
fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477
U.S. 317, 322–23 (1986); Darnell v. Pineiro, 849 F.3d 17, 22 (2d
Cir. 2017). The substantive law governing the case will identify
those facts that are material, and “[o]nly disputes over facts
that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing
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law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment.”
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986); see
also N.Y.C. Dist. Council of Carpenters v. Reilly Partitions,
Inc., No. 18-cv-1211, 2018 WL 2417849, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. May 29,
2018).
III.
Section 301 of the LMRA grants federal courts jurisdiction
over petitions brought to confirm labor arbitration awards.
Local 802, Associated Musicians of Greater N.Y. v. Parker
Meridien Hotel, 145 F.3d 85, 88 (2d Cir. 1998). The Supreme
Court has explained that district courts “are not authorized to
reconsider the merits of an award even though the parties may
allege that the award rests on errors of fact or on
misinterpretation of the contract.” United Paperworkers Int’l
Union, AFL-CIO v. Misco, Inc., 484 U.S. 29, 36 (1987); see also
Nat’l Football League Mgmt. Council v. Nat’l Football League
Players Ass’n, 820 F.3d 527, 536 (2d Cir. 2016). Instead, “[a]s
long as the arbitrator is even arguably construing or applying
the contract and acting within the scope of his authority, that
a court is convinced he committed serious error does not suffice
to overturn his decision.” Int’l Brotherhood of Elec. Workers,
Local 97 v. Niagra Mohawk Power Corp., 143 F.3d 704, 713 (2d
Cir. 1998) (quoting Misco, 484 U.S. at 38); see also Nat’l
Football League Mgmt. Council, 820 F.3d at 536. Accordingly, an
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arbitration award is to be confirmed if there is even a “barely
colorable justification” for the decision. U.S. Steel & Carnegie
Pension Fund v. Dickinson, 753 F.2d 250, 252 (2d Cir. 1985).
In this case, the arbitrator’s award was not the
arbitrator’s “own brand of industrial justice.” See Misco, 484
U.S. at 36 (quoting United Steelworkers v. Enter. Wheel & Car
Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 597 (1960)). The arbitrator deliberated and
concluded, based on the uncontroverted evidence, that the
respondent failed to comply with the PLA. In doing so, the
arbitrator did not act outside the scope of his authority. Based
on the limited review that applies to an unopposed petition to
confirm an arbitration award, there is no genuine dispute of
material fact and the arbitrator’s award should be confirmed.
IV.
The petitioner also seeks to recover attorney’s fees and
costs arising out of this petition, as well as prejudgment
interest at the statutory rate.
Courts “routinely award[] attorneys fees in cases where a
party merely refuses to abide by an arbitrator’s award without
challenging or seeking to vacate it through a motion to the
court.” Trs. of N.Y.C. Dist. Council of Carpenters Pension Fund
v. All. Workroom Corp., No. 13-cv-5096, 2013 WL 6498165, at *6
(S.D.N.Y. Dec. 11, 2013); see also Int’l Chem. Workers Union,
Local No. 227 v. BASF Wyandotte Corp., 774 F.2d 43, 47 (2d Cir.
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1985) (where a party “refuses to abide by an arbitrator’s
decision without justification, attorney’s fees and costs may be
properly awarded.”).
The attorney’s fees sought in this case are reasonable. In
support of the petitioner’s claim for attorney’s fees, the
petitioner’s counsel submitted a description of the tasks
completed, the hourly billing rates, and the total hours billed.
See Sigelakis Decl., Ex. G, ECF No. 19. The petitioner seeks
$1,920 for 6 hours and 40 minutes of work, for which the
petitioner’s counsel billed the services of a partner at a rate
of $300 per hour. Sigelakis Decl. ¶ 25–26. 1 The rates billed and
time expended on this action by the petitioner’s counsel are
reasonable. See Trs. of Dis. Council No. 9 Painting Indus. Ins.
Fund v. Pal AMG Inc., No. 22-cv-6105, 2023 WL 2786821, at *5
(S.D.N.Y. Apr. 5, 2023) (approving attorney’s fees that billed
an associate attorney at a rate of $300 per hour); Dis. Council
No. 9, Int’l Union of Allied Painters and Allied Trades, AFL-CIO
v. Impact Storefront Designs, No. 22-cv-10519, 2023 WL 3818408,
at *3 (S.D.N.Y. June 5, 2023) (same). Because the rates billed
and time expended on this action by the petitioner’s counsel are
6 hours and 40 minutes of work billed at a rate of $300 an hour
amounts to $2,000. However because the $1,920 that the
petitioner seeks is less than $2,000, the Court will use the
amount sought by the petition.
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reasonable, the Court grants the petitioner’s request for $1,920
in attorney’s fees.
Additionally, the petitioner requests costs. Courts
routinely permit the recovery of costs for filing and service
fees. See N.Y.C. & Vicinity Dist. Council of Carpenters v. Plaza
Constr. Grp., Inc., No. 16-cv-1115, 2016 WL 3951187, at *2
(S.D.N.Y. July 19, 2016) (collecting cases). Accordingly, the
Court grants the request for $659.83 in costs. See Sigelakis
Decl., Ex. H.
The petitioner also requests prejudgment interest dating
from one day after the deadline set in the petitioner’s demand
letter—or June 8, 2024. “Whether to award prejudgment interest
in cases arising under federal law has in the absence of a
statutory directive been placed in the sound discretion of the
district courts.” Lodges 743 & 1746, Int’l Assoc. of Machinists
v. United Aircraft Corp., 534 F.2d 422, 446 (2d Cir. 1975),
cert. denied, 429 U.S. 825 (1976). The Second Circuit Court of
Appeals has observed that in the context of petitions to confirm
arbitration awards there is a “presumption in favor of prejudgment interest.” Waterside Ocean Navigation Co. v. Int’l
Navigation Ltd., 737 F.2d 150, 154 (2d Cir. 1984). Accordingly,
courts in this District “have exercised their discretion to
award prejudgment interest when confirming arbitration awards
under collective bargaining agreements pursuant to [Section] 301
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of the LMRA,” when the collective bargaining agreement indicates
that the arbitration award is final and binding. Service Emps.
Int’l Union, Local 32 BJ, AFL-CIO v. Stone Park Assocs., LLC,
326 F. Supp. 2d 550, 555 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (collecting cases).
Moreover, the “common practice among courts within this Circuit
is to grant interest at a rate of 9%, the rate of pre-judgment
interest under New York State law.” Id. (citing N.Y. C.P.L.R. §§
5001–5004). In this case, the PLA provided that arbitration of
disputes between the parties would be final and binding, and the
petitioner is therefore entitled to prejudgment interest at the
statutory rate. See Pet. ¶ 7; PLA at art. 9 § 1.
CONCLUSION
The petition to confirm the arbitration award is granted.
The Clerk is directed to enter judgment as follows:
1) In the amount of $440.40, allocated to Christian Castro;
$2,642.40, allocated to the Union; $2,694.16, allocated to
the NYCDCC Benefit Funds; and $850.00, allocated to
Arbitrator Richard Adelman; plus prejudgment interest at
the statutory rate accruing from June 8, 2024;
2) Attorney’s fees in the amount of $1,920.00;
3) Court costs in the amount of $659.83; and
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