Statuary Interpretation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Laborers’ Pension Fund, et al. v. W.R. Weis Company, Inc.,

Case No.: 16-2079;16-2944

Officials: BAUER, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Statuary Interpretation 

The Laborers’ Pension Fund administers the pension fund for the Laborers’ International Union of North America. W.R. Weis Company, a Chicago-area stonework firm, was required by a collective-bargaining agreement to contribute to the Fund for each hour worked by members of the Laborers’ Union. The company complied with this obligation for many years. Over time, however, the firm transitioned to using more highly skilled marble setters and finishers on its jobs, so it gradually stopped hiring members of the Laborers’ Union and ceased paying into the Fund. In 2012 the Weis Company terminated its collective bargaining agreement with the Laborers’ Union.

The Fund, a multiemployer pension plan governed by ERISA and the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendment Act (“MPPAA”), served notice that the Weis Company owed more than $600,000 in withdrawal liability for ceasing to contribute to the Fund. The company paid the assessment but challenged it via arbitration, invoking an exemption for the building and construction industry. See 29 U.S.C. § 1383(b). The arbitrator agreed with the company, and a district judge confirmed the award but denied the Weis Company’s motion for attorney’s fees.

Both sides appealed. The Fund seeks de novo review of the arbitrator’s award, raising a legal argument about the language and purpose of the § 1383(b) exemption. The Weis Company responds that the deferential clear-error standard applies because the parties treated their dispute as entirely factual, as did the arbitrator. The Weis Company is right: the Fund waived its statutory-interpretation argument by failing to raise it in the arbitration. And because the Fund has not meaningfully challenged the arbitrator’s factual determinations, which easily survive clear-error review in any event, we affirm the judgment. Finally, we reject the cross-appeal because the judge did not abuse his discretion in denying the Weis Company’s motion for attorney’s fees.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.