Southern Electrical Retirement Fund v. NRG Management Solutions, Inc.

Filing 18

PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION: The Court hereby enters a preliminary injunction against the Defendant requiring the timely future payment of contributions and submission of all monthly payroll reports. All payments presently owing and all payroll reports pr esently due shall be submitted to Plaintiff within 20 days of the date of entry of this order. Signed by District Judge Aleta A. Trauger on 4/12/18. (xc: Defendant by regular mail.)(DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(gb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION

SOUTHERN ELECTRICAL RETIREMENT
FUND,
Plaintiff,
v.
NRG MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS, INC.,
Defendant.

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Civil Action No. 3:17-1379
Judge Trauger

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND WAIVING BOND
Pending before the Court is a motion by Plaintiff for a preliminary injunction and to waive
any requirement for security in connection with issuance of the preliminary injunction.
Defendant has not responded to the motion, and pursuant to Local Rule 8(b)(3) the failure to file a
response indicates there is no opposition.

Despite the lack of opposition, the Court has

considered the motion and the entire record in this matter, and makes the following findings.
The motion is supported by the declaration of Angela Nelson who relates under penalty of
perjury as allowed by 28 U.S.C. § 1746 that factual statements in her declaration are true. The
declaration establishes the following: Plaintiff is a multiemployer employee pension benefit plan
as that term is defined in ERISA at 29 U.S.C. §1002 (2)(A). Defendant is a party to a collective
bargaining requiring the payment of contributions to Plaintiff, and is an employer as that term is
defined in ERISA at 29 U.S.C. 1002 (5). Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement,
Defendant is obligated to send Plaintiff a monthly payroll report with details about the hours of
work and wages of its employees and the report is to be accompanied with payment of
contributions.

Plaintiff filed suit pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1145, which was added to ERISA in 1980 due to
the Congressional recognition that delinquencies of employers in making required contributions in
a timely fashion impose a variety of costs to health and pension plans, including the loss of funds
to pay benefits, interest income, additional administrative expenses, attorney’s fees and other legal
costs, and also the possibility that employees may not receive health or pension benefits 1.
Consideration of Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction requires weighing the
interests of Plaintiff and Defendant upon the consideration of four factors: (1) whether there is a
strong or substantial likelihood of Plaintiff’s success on the merits; (2) whether an injunction will
save Plaintiff from irreparable injury; (3) whether an injunction will harm others, including
Defendant; and (4) the impact the Court’s ruling will have upon the public interest. Dayton Area
Visually Impaired Persons, Inc. v. Fischer, 70 F.3d 1474, 1480 (6th Cir.) cert. den. 517 U.S. 1135
(1996). These factors are to be balanced and do not receive rigid application or an assignment of
equal weight. (Ibid).
Because uncontested facts as stated in the Nelson declaration establish Defendant violated
29 U.S.C. § 1145, there is a strong or substantial likelihood of Plaintiff’s success on the merits.
Issuance of the injunction will likely save Plaintiff from irreparable injury, as the Nelson
declaration reveals that absent the payment of contributions, employees of Defendant may not
receive benefits. Issuance of the injunction will not harm others, as Defendant will merely be
required to conform its conduct to §515 of ERISA. The public interest embodied in §515 of
ERISA will be served by issuance of the injunction.

1

Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, S1076 - The Multiemployer
Pension Plan Act Amendments of 1980, Summary and Analysis of Consideration 96th Cong., 2d
Sess. at 43-4 (Comm. Print, 1980).

Accordingly, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 65 (a) the Court hereby enters a preliminary
injunction against the Defendant requiring the timely future payment of contributions and
submission of all monthly payroll reports, as required under 29 U.S.C. § 1145. All payments
presently owing and all payroll reports presently due shall be submitted to Plaintiff within twenty
(20) days of the date of entry of this order.
Plaintiff has also moved to waive any requirement for security in connection with issuance
of the preliminary injunction pursuant to Fed. Civ. R. P. 65(c). For reasons stated in Plaintiff’s
memorandum in support, the Motion is hereby granted and bond is hereby waived.
The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this order to the Defendant NRG Management
Solutions, Inc. c/o Alfred B. Colvin, II, Registered Agent, 315 10th Avenue North, Ste. 128,
Nashville, TN 37203.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
ENTER this 12th day of April 2018.

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ALETA A. TRAUGER
United States District Judge

APPROVED FOR ENTRY:

s/R. Jan Jennings
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R. Jan Jennings, BPR No. 1536
Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC
223 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, Ste. 200
Nashville, TN 37203
Tel.: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing has been served via United States First
Class Mail with adequate postage affixed thereon to the following:
Alfred B. Colvin, II
d/b/a NRG Management Solutions, Inc.
932 Ramsey Street
Nashville, TN 37206
NRG Management Solutions, Inc.
c/o Alfred B. Colvin, II, Registered Agent
315 10th Avenue North, Ste. 128
Nashville, TN 37203
This 12th day of April, 2018.
s/R. Jan Jennings
R. Jan Jennings