Trustees of the Operating Engineers Pension Trust v. Smith-Emery Company

I. INTRODUCTION

This case is the latest iteration of a labor dispute between plaintiff trustees (“Trustees”) that administer several trusts and funds (“Trust Funds”) that provide benefits to members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 12 (“Local 12”), on the one hand, and Smith-Emery Company (“SEC”), a California corporation that performs construction tests and inspections, on the other. In broad terms, the dispute concerns allegations that SEC has failed, over the course of many years, to make payments into certain trusts for the benefit of Local members employed by SEC, which the Trustees allege is required by labor agreements between SEC (or its bargaining agents) and Local 12. The parties have filed several prior actions related to this general dispute in federal and state courts, and these actions are discussed in more detail, to the extent relevant, in the order below.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CIVIL MINUTES —- GENERAL ‘Oo’ Case No. 2:19-CV-04058-CAS-AFM Date October 28, 2019 Title TRUSTEES OF THE OPERATING ENGINEERS…