Chicago Reg'l Council of Carpenters Pension Fund v. Schal Bovis, Inc., No. 14-3336 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseSchal Bovis, a Chicago-area general contractor, was a party to collective bargaining agreement, 2005-2008, that created the Fringe Benefit Funds and limited Schal’s ability to subcontract work “coming within the jurisdictional claims of the Union” (carpenter’s work). Schal was required to get any non-union subcontractor to sign the Agreement, or to keep track of hours worked by the subcontractor and pay the Funds benefit contributions for those hours. The Agreement stated:“the Union agrees that it will not interfere with existing practices of other unions affiliated with the Building Trades.” The Funds filed suit under the Labor Management Relations Act,, 29 U.S.C. 185, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. 1132(a), alleging that Schal failed to make fringe benefit payments for work performed by nonunion labor. The court granted summary judgment to the Funds then held a bench trial on damages. The Seventh Circuit reversed summary judgment on two claims. A non-union subcontractor should be considered a single employer with a union signatory who performed the work, so that the Funds cannot claim benefits for the work performed in one claim. With respect to the second claim, the court held that the Agreement prevented the Union from claiming work which was the existing practice of other trade unions.
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