Louisiana Bricklayers & Trowel Trades Pension Fund & Welfare Fund v. Alfred Miller General Masonry Contracting Co.

• Decision Date: 16 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-30594,97-30594
• Parties: 159 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2577, 22 Employee Benefits Cas. 2057, Pens. Plan Guide (CCH) P 23949B LOUISIANA BRICKLAYERS & TROWEL TRADES PENSION FUND & WELFARE FUND, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ALFRED MILLER GENERAL MASONRY CONTRACTING COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 404

157 F.3d 404

159 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2577, 22 Employee Benefits

Cas. 2057,

Pens. Plan Guide (CCH) P 23949B

LOUISIANA BRICKLAYERS & TROWEL TRADES PENSION FUND & WELFARE FUND, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ALFRED MILLER GENERAL MASONRY CONTRACTING COMPANY Defendant-Appellant.

No. 97-30594.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Oct. 16, 1998.

Julie Marie Richard-Spencer, Louis L. Robein, Jr., Robein, Urann & Lurye, Metairie, LA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Edward J. Fonti, Jones, Tete, Nolen, Hanchey, Swift, Spears & Fonti, Lake Charles, LA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the decision of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before GARWOOD, JONES and WIENER, Circuit Judges.

EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge:

Although Congress has conferred primary jurisdiction on the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") for most disputes arising in the labor context, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") established a remedy, enforceable in the district courts, whereby multiemployer plans may recover delinquent contributions from employers obligated to make the payments under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement ("CBA"). Faced with such an ERISA claim, the employer here sought, first, a refuge under the NLRB's jurisdiction; second, a decision on successorship in labor law that, it contends, relieves it of liability to the plan; and third, a finding that it terminated the CBA. We hold that the first alternative is not supportable on these facts; the second raises a defense not cognizable in the ERISA case; and the third argument is meritless.

I. INTRODUCTION

For nearly forty years, Alfred Miller General Masonry Contracting Company ("Miller") and Bricklayers Local 4 ("Local 4") have maintained an employer/union relationship. In July 1990, the parties entered into a new CBA. Pursuant to the CBA, Miller regularly contributed certain amounts to the Louisiana Bricklayers & Trowel Trades Pension Fund and Welfare Fund ("the Funds"). Article XXIII ¹ of the CBA ("Article XXIII") provided for automatic renewal from year to year unless either party furnished written notice of intent to terminate the agreement not later than sixty days nor more than ninety days prior to the July 1 anniversary date. ²

In July 1994, Local 4 was among 28 locals in three states that were merged into a consolidated "local," Bricklayers Local Union Number 1 ("Local 1"), by the International Executive Board of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen. The newly-designated president/secretary-treasurer of Local 1 informed Miller of the merger by memorandum dated July 18, 1994.

On August 30, 1994, Miller wrote to the president of Local 1 contesting the local's representation rights. Miller refused to recognize Local 1 as a successor union to Local 4. However, Miller did state,

[F]or the immediate future we will continue to make monthly contributions to our local benefit funds on behalf of those employees covered by the Local 4 collective bargaining agreement. If there is a change in our position, we will notify you in another letter.

In September 1994, without further notification, Miller stopped contributing to the Funds.

II. THE DISPUTE

When Miller ceased making fund contributions, the Funds brought suit in the Western District of Louisiana in order to compel payment. Citing sections 502 ³ and 515 ⁴ of ERISA and section 301 ⁵ of the Labor Management Relations Act ("LMRA"), the Funds sought to recover the delinquent contributions and available interest, penalties, costs, and attorneys' fees. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment regarding the claims, and the magistrate judge granted summary judgment in favor of the Funds.

In his memorandum ruling, the magistrate judge addressed three issues. First, the court determined that a district court could properly exercise jurisdiction over the claims--rejecting Miller's argument that the NLRB is the exclusive forum for resolution of the disputed labor law issues. Second, the court ruled that Local 1 is a successor to Local 4. Third, the court found that Miller's August 30 letter failed to terminate the CBA.

When Miller moved for reconsideration, the magistrate judge revised his earlier ruling, retreating from the finding that Local 1 was a successor union to Local 4. In so doing, the court noted, "[W]hether Local 1 was a successor to Local 4 ... is immaterial to the proper disposition of this matter." Instead the court focused on the limited defenses to an action under ERISA section 515 and concluded that the dissolution of Local 4 was not a defense to the underlying action. Based on these rulings, the court entered judgment for the Funds for delinquent payments covering the period of September 1994 to November 1996. Miller has appealed.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

When a district court grants summary judgment, this court reviews the determination de novo, employing the same standards as the district court. See Urbano v. Continental Airlines, Inc., 138 F.3d 204, 205 (5th Cir.1998). Summary judgment is appropriate when, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, the record reflects that no genuine issue of material fact exists, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

B. Jurisdiction, Defenses, and ERISA section 515

Generally, the NLRB retains primary jurisdiction to address disputes arguably subject to sections 7 or 8 of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). See Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Mullins, 455 U.S. 72, 83, 102 S.Ct. 851, 859, 70 L.Ed.2d 833 (1982). As was previously noted, however, ERISA was amended to facilitate the collection of past-due pension and welfare fund contributions from employers in federal courts.

Notwithstanding the Funds' proper invocation of federal court jurisdiction, Miller asserts that the labor law defenses it raises should have been heard first under the auspices of the NLRA and that the federal court should have dismissed pending an NLRB action. In so contending, Miller principally relies on Laborers Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Advanced Lightweight Concrete Co., 484 U.S. 539, 108 S.Ct. 830, 98 L.Ed.2d 936 (1988). Advanced Lightweight is, however, distinct, as it involved negotiations following the lapse of a collective bargaining agreement. See 484 U.S. at 542, 108 S.Ct. at 832. A discussion of the Advanced Lightweight facts and holding is enlightening.

Advanced Lightweight was required to contribute to several employee benefit plans under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. See id. Following the lapse of the agreement, the employer discontinued contributions to the plans. See id. When the employer ceased contributing, the plans filed suit in federal court. Grounding jurisdiction on ERISA sections 502 and 515, ⁶ the plans argued that the fund payments were due and owing because the employer's unilateral decision to forestall payment constituted an unfair labor practice under NLRA section 8(a)(5) ⁷. Advanced Lightweight, 484 U.S. at 542-43, 108 S.Ct. at 832. Advanced Lightweight maintained that section 515 of ERISA did not govern the "delinquent" contributions because the duty to make these payments would only arise under the good-faith bargaining provisions of the NLRA, not the expired collective bargaining agreement. See id. at 543-44, 108 S.Ct. at 833. As a result, the employer contended that the NLRB retained exclusive jurisdiction over the post-contractual contributions dispute. See id. at 544, 108 S.Ct. at 833.

The Supreme Court ruled that the remedy provided by section 515 of ERISA did not extend to post-contract delinquencies. See id. at 547-49, 108 S.Ct. at 835-36. The Court held,

[B]oth the text and the legislative history of §§ 515 and 502(g)(2) provide firm support for the ... conclusion that [the remedy provided by these sections] is limited to the collection of "promised contributions" and does not confer jurisdiction on district courts to determine whether an employer's unilateral decision to refuse to make postcontract contributions constitutes a violation of the NLRA.

Id. at 548-49, 108 S.Ct. at 835-36 (footnotes omitted).

In Advanced Lightweight, the termination date of the CBA, and thus the last date on which contractually-based fund payments were due under section 515, was a given fact. The NLRB's jurisdiction, according to the Court, had to be invoked to determine non-section 515 liability for the company's alleged post-contractual unfair labor practice.

This case is different. First, the funds are not relying on an unfair labor practice, i.e., a claim under NLRA section 8(a)(5), as the basis for their claim. Second, Miller argues that "the Funds seek contributions during a time at which there was no union party to a collective bargaining agreement with the employer." To reach that conclusion, which would determine that the CBA ended in 1994, we would have to infer the answer to the labor law issue that no valid union successorship occurred. No such issue regarding the termination date of the CBA was presented to or ruled on by the Court in Advanced Lightweight, however, and it is an issue within the unique expertise of the NLRB. In this sense, Miller asks the federal court to usurp the NLRB's function in the labor arena, contrary to Advanced Lightweight, by deciding if and when a facially valid CBA becomes unenforceable. In light of the limited defenses to a claim under section 515, Advanced Lightweight furnishes neither factual or theoretical support for the extension Miller seeks.

Miller's non-jurisdictional arguments assert defenses to the Funds' lawsuit based on lack of proper successorship and a purported termination of the CBA. Under the facts presented here, these defenses are not cognizable in a section 515 action....