General Contractor Bears Burden of Disproving Claim for Employer Contributions by Labor Union Under Collective Bargaining Agreement
Kane Builders, Inc. v. S. New Jersey Bldg. Laborers Dist. Council, LIUNA, 2007 WL 2416470 (D.N.J. Aug. 21, 2007)
In this case, a labor union brought various claims against a general contractor (“GC”) stemming from a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) entered between the Union and the GC. Briefly stated, the union asserted a multi-million dollar claim for unpaid employer contributions that the GC would have been obligated to pay, had it not violated the CBA by not using union laborers on over 100 “covered projects” in New Jersey. Relying on ERISA’s record keeping provision (29 U.S.C. § 1145), the union argued that the GC bore the burden of proving which hours worked were not subject to contribution.
The court, following 11th Circuit precedent, adopted the burden-shifting approach. It determined that the union had satisfied its initial burden of setting forth sufficient evidence concerning the amount and extent of work performed through an expert auditor’s report. The court ruled that, at that point, the burden of proof shifted to the GC to disprove, or raise an issue of fact, regarding the extent of work performed on covered projects and/or whether covered employees performed the work. Because the GC was unable to produce any records to disprove the union’s claim, the court entered partial summary judgment on the issue of damages.