NOTICE: This
opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the bound volumes of NLRB decisions. Readers are requested to notify the Executive
Secretary, National Labor Relations Board,
Proper Steel Erectors, Inc. and its alter ego B
& M Steel Erectors, Inc. and Iron
Workers Upstate Locals of New York and Vicinity, Consisting of International
Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers,
Local Union Nos. 60, 33, 9, 440, 6 and 12. Case
3–CA–24700
July 25, 2008
ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
By Chairman Schaumber and
Member Liebman
On February 8, 2008, the National Labor Relations Board[1] issued a Supplemental Decision and Order[2] granting in part and denying in part the General Counsel’s motion seeking default judgment on allegations regarding the Respondent’s backpay obligations and contributions owed to union benefit funds set forth in the March 26, 2007 amended compliance specification. The Board granted default judgment with regard to the backpay allegations and certain of the benefit funds allegations. However, it remanded to Region 3 for a hearing the remaining benefit funds allegations, which the Respondent had denied in its answer to the original specification,
On March 7, 2008, the General Counsel filed a Motion for Reconsideration requesting that the Board reconsider its refusal to grant default judgment on all of the benefit funds allegations. The General Counsel contends that (1) the Respondent does not deny the allegations that were remanded for a hearing; (2) “upon information and belief” the Respondent is not a solvent entity, and did not file an answer to the amended compliance specification because it is without financial resources to participate in a hearing; and (3) a hearing would be a waste of the Board’s resources, as it is unlikely that the Respondent will appear.
In support of the motion, the General Counsel submitted a letter from the Respondent’s counsel dated March 21, 2007, stating that the Respondent did not contest the backpay figures or unpaid benefit funds as alleged in the March 2, 2007 amendment to the compliance specification. The General Counsel also submitted an e-mail from the Respondent’s counsel, dated the same day as the letter, stating that the Respondent would file an answer admitting the allegations when it was served with the amended compliance specification. However, when the amended specification issued on March 26, 2007, the Respondent filed no answer.
The Respondent did not oppose the General Counsel’s motion.
Section 102.48(d)(1) of the Board’s Rules and Regulations permits a party in “extraordinary circumstances” to move for reconsideration of a Board decision. Having duly considered the Motion for Reconsideration, the Board, on May 20, 2008, issued a Notice to Show Cause why the motion should not be granted. The Respondent failed to file a timely response to the Notice to Show Cause. Accordingly, the allegations in the motion are uncontested.[3]
Based on the evidence presented by the General Counsel, we
find that the Respondent does not contest any of the allegations set forth in
the March 26 amended compliance specification.
We therefore deem those allegations to be admitted, and we grant the
General Counsel’s motion for default judgment in its entirety.
ORDER
The
General Counsel’s Motion for Reconsideration is granted. Accordingly, the Board’s Supplemental Decision
and Order is modified, and default judgment is granted with respect to all
allegations in the March 26, 2007 amended compliance specification.
It is
ordered that the Respondent, Proper Steel Erectors, Inc., and its alter ego B
& M Steel Erectors, Inc., Pompey and Central Square, New York, its
officers,
agents, successors, and assigns, shall make whole the
individuals listed in attachment 1, by paying them a total amount of
$16,505.15, as set forth in attachment 1, plus interest as prescribed in New Horizons for the Retarded, 283 NLRB 1173 (1987), minus tax withholdings
required by Federal and State laws. The
Respondent shall also make whole the benefit funds by paying them a total
amount of $24,317.65, as set forth in attachment 2, in the
manner specified in the Board’s underlying Decision and Order.
Dated,
Peter C. Schaumber,
Chairman
Wilma B. Liebman, Member
(seal) National
Labor Relations Board