Combs v. Indyk

• Decision Date: 20 October 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 81-1296.
• Citation: 554 F. Supp. 573
• Parties: Harrison COMBS, John J. O'Connell and Paul R. Dean, as Trustees of United Mine Workers of America, Health and Retirement Funds, Plaintiffs, v. Evelyn I. INDYK, Leo Indyk, David James and Leslie Ray Smith, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

554 F. Supp. 573

Harrison COMBS, John J. O'Connell and Paul R. Dean, as Trustees of United Mine Workers of America, Health and Retirement Funds, Plaintiffs, v. Evelyn I. INDYK, Leo Indyk, David James and Leslie Ray Smith, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 81-1296.

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

October 20, 1982.

Jack W. Plowman, Plowman & Spiegel, Pittsburgh, Pa., Walter O'Connell, United Mine Workers of America, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.

Gordon F. Harrington, Washington, Pa., James Weisman, Ellie Americus, Pittsburgh, Pa., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TEITELBAUM, Chief Judge.

This is an action by the trustees of union health and retirement funds against the officers of a corporate signatory to a collective bargaining agreement to recover delinquent contributions the corporation was obligated to make to the funds under the agreement. For the reasons set forth below, the Court has concluded that no federal claims have been stated against the defendants and the pendent state law claims must be transferred to state court or dismissed.

Monroe Contract Corporation¹ (Monroe) and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) entered into the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreements of 1974 and 1978 (wage agreements). Pursuant to these wage agreements Monroe was required to pay into the UMWA Health and Retirement Funds royalties or contributions based upon tons of coal produced or acquired and upon hours worked by classified employees. The trustees of these funds claim Monroe understated the amount of coal produced and the number of hours worked by its employees and has a principal indebtedness in excess of $227,000. Monroe is in Chapter XI bankruptcy and therefore was not named in this action. Rather the trustees have proceeded against Evelyn Indyk, in her capacity as president of Monroe from 1974 until February of 1980; Leo Indyk, in his capacity as vice president of Monroe from 1974 until February of 1980; David James, in his capacity as president of Monroe from February of 1980 to the present; and Leslie Ray Smith, in his capacity as vice president of Monroe from February of 1980 to the present. Federal jurisdiction is premised upon section 301 of the Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185, and section 502 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1132; pendent jurisdiction over a state law claim under Pennsylvania's Wage Payment and Collection Law, 43 P.S. § 260.1 et seq., is also asserted.

Defendants assert numerous defenses: the action must be dismissed because Monroe is an indispensable party, Pennsylvania's Wage Payment and Collection Law is pre-empted by ERISA and is contrary to public policy, one provision of the Wage Payment and Collection Law bars part of the claim, the three year statute of limitations of the Wage Payment and Collection Law bars part of the claim, defendants James and Smith contend they did not know that Monroe was a signatory to the wage agreements and therefore they cannot be liable for obligations arising under the wage agreements. Although the defendants have denominated their first defense as an indispensable party issue, the thrust of their argument is that they were neither signatories to the wage agreements nor employers and therefore cannot be held liable to the plaintiffs under federal law. This argument raises important questions as to whether a federal claim has been stated against the defendants.

Section 301 of the LMRA, 29 U.S.C. § 185(a), authorizes suits for the violation of a contract between an employer and a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce. Plaintiffs invoke section 301 jurisdiction on the basis of an alleged violation of the wage agreements entered into between Monroe and the UMWA. It is undisputed that only Monroe was the employer signatory to these agreements. The record is devoid of any hint or suggestion that the corporate veil should be pierced; this is in contradistinction to the situation confronting the district court in Carpenters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity, et al. v. Kenneth B. Ambrose, Inc., et al., No. 79-1224 (E.D.Pa., filed July 11, 1980) relied upon by the plaintiffs. In Ambrose the district court extended section 301 jurisdiction over the corporate officers because of the close relationship between the individuals and the corporation. Carpenters Health and Welfare Fund v. Kenneth R. Ambrose, Inc., 665 F.2d 466 n. 2 (3d Cir. 1981). The sole argument for imposing liability on these defendants under section 301 appears to be that as corporate officers they are included within the statutory definition of employers who may be liable for fringe benefits under Pennsylvania's Wage Payment and Collection Law. That corporate officers are included within the statutory definition of employers under state law is too slender a reed for exposing such officers to liability under the federal common law of labor-management...