Trustees of the Southern California Pipe Trades Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Temecula Mechanical, Inc.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

This case brings into sharp focus the liability limits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) for unpaid employer contributions to employee benefit funds established through a multi-employer plan. Plaintiffs are the trustees (“Trustees”) for seven employee benefit funds (“Funds”) established under a multi-employer collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) for the benefit of Southern California unionized plumbers. The Trustees have filed a five-count complaint against defendants Temecula Mechanical, Inc. (“TMI”), and its president and sole owner, Patrick Leonard, for monies allegedly owed the Funds in the form of delinquent contributions and union dues. Three of the claims in the complaint are the focus of the present motion to dismiss brought by defendants: Breach of fiduciary duty and engaging in a prohibited transaction by failing to make contribution payments to the Funds in violation of ERISA, see 29 U.S.C. §§ 1104 (a), 1106(b)(1), and a state law conversion claim for the unremitted union dues. For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the…