Carpenters Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Surety Co.

Carpenters Health and Welfare Trust Fund for California, and other multiemployer trust funds (the Trust Funds), filed a complaint against David Barry, Community Construction, and Surety Company of the Pacific (Surety). The complaint alleged, as relevant here, that Barry, doing business as Community Construction, had failed to deposit certain fringe benefits into the Trust Funds as required under a collective bargaining agreement. The Trust Funds brought the instant action to collect the unpaid amounts of $27,459.08 from Barry. The complaint further alleged that Surety had issued a contractor’s bond in the amount of $5,000, naming Community Construction as principal. The Trust Funds sought $3,000 from Surety on this bond, as authorized by Business and Professions Code section 7071.5, subdivision (d)-

The superior court granted summary judgment to Surety on the ground that the California statute is preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) ( 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.). The Trust Funds appeal.

Discussion

We, as did the trial court, find that the recent California Supreme Court decision in Carpenters So. Cal. Admin. Corp. v. El Capitan…