LOS ANGELES — Trustees have filed suit against a business that allegedly has failed to pay withdrawal fees into a pension trust for its employees.
Southwest Carpenters Pension Trust and its board of trustees filed a complaint Aug. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against San Juan Insulation and Drywall Inc. and Does 1-10, alleging that they failed to uphold the rights of employees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that on Aug. 31, 2011, Southwest Carpenters Pension Trust and its board of trustees entered a statewide agreement with the defendants to honor a pension trust that primarily covers employees who perform all of their work in the building and construction industry. The plaintiff claims that the defendants' obligations to contribute to the trust permanently ceased after May 31, 2012, due to the expiration of its union contract. The Carpenters Southwest Administrative Corp., as plan administrator, appointed by the plaintiffs, allegedly sent a withdrawal liability demand letter to the defendants informing them of their final obligation in the amount of $116,920.
The plaintiffs hold San Juan Insulation and Drywall Inc. and Does 1-10 responsible because the defendants allegedly waived the right to challenge all arbitrable issues regarding the withdrawal liability assessment by not requesting a review within 90 days, failed to cure their delinquency to the trust and failed to pay the withdrawal liability amount owed.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment against the defendants, unpaid withdrawal liability of $116,920, liquidated damages of $11,692, attorney’s fees, costs of suit and further relief as the court may deem just. They are represented by Daniel M. Shanley and Dennis J. Murphy of DeCarlo & Shanley in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 16-cv-06011