Northwest Administrators Inc v. Washington State Trucking, Inc.

Filing 14

ORDER granting plaintiff's 11 Motion for Default Judgment signed by Judge Richard A Jones.(RS)

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1 HONORABLE RICHARD A. JONES 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 9 10 11 NORTHWEST ADMINISTRATORS INC, Plaintiff, 12 13 14 15 16 CASE NO. C16-1244 RAJ ORDER v. WASHINGTON STATE TRUCKING, INC., a Washington corporation, Defendant. 17 18 19 This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment. 20 Dkt. # 11. The Court GRANTS the motion and directs the clerk to enter default 21 judgment as directed at the conclusion of this order. 22 The Court’s role in reviewing a motion for default judgment is not ministerial. It 23 must accept all well-pleaded allegations of the complaint as fact, except facts related to 24 the amount of damages. TeleVideo Sys., Inc. v. Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 917-18 (9th 25 Cir. 1987). Where those facts establish a defendant’s liability, the Court has discretion, 26 not an obligation, to enter a default judgment. Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 27 (9th Cir. 1980); Alan Neuman Productions, Inc. v. Albright, 862 F.2d 1388, 1392 (9th ORDER- 1 1 Cir. 1988). The plaintiff must submit evidence supporting a claim for a particular sum of 2 damages. TeleVideo Sys., 826 F.2d at 917-18; see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2)(B). If the 3 plaintiff cannot prove that the sum it seeks is “a liquidated sum or capable of 4 mathematical calculation,” the Court must hold a hearing or otherwise ensure that the 5 damage award is appropriate. Davis v. Fendler, 650 F.2d 1154, 1161 (9th Cir. 1981). 6 Plaintiff is the authorized administrative agent for and assignee of two union trust 7 funds. The evidence it has presented establishes that Defendant was delinquent in its 8 monthly contributions to the fund. The evidence demonstrates that the amount of liability 9 for the delinquency is $30,041.34, plus liquidated damages in the amount of $7,772.66, 10 and interest at the rate of 4% per annum, which amounts to $1,881.22. 11 In addition, Plaintiff requests attorney fees and costs. Although Plaintiff’s 12 evidence of attorney fees includes the hourly fees of non-attorneys, Plaintiff has 13 established that its counsel does not incorporate non-attorney work into his hourly rate, 14 and has established that counsel actually bills Plaintiff for the work of non-attorneys. 15 Dkt. # 11 at p. 7. In accordance with Trustees of the Const. Indus. & Laborers Health & 16 Welfare Trust v. Redland Ins. Co., 460 F.3d 1253, 1256-57 (9th Cir. 2006), the Court 17 awards the hourly fees of both Plaintiff’s counsel and counsel’s hourly-billing support 18 staff. The Court finds that Plaintiff’s evidence supports an attorney fee award of 19 $2,475.43 and costs of $654. 20 The clerk shall enter default judgment in accordance with this order. 21 Dated this 13th day of June, 2017. 22 23 A 24 25 The Honorable Richard A. Jones United States District Judge 26 27 ORDER- 2

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