Ibew Local 595 v. B-Side Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Appellant B-Side (“B-Side”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment and attorneys’ fees in favor of Appel-lees, a Union and related Trust Funds (the “Union”). B-Side is a general contractor who engaged an unlicensed subcontractor, Zoom Electric, Inc. (“ZEI”), on a public works project. In the course of the project, ZEI failed to hire Union labor and failed to pay certain benefits, in violation of the Project Labor Agreement (“PLA”). The Union successfully brought a claim against ZEI through the PLA’s grievance arbitration procedure. B-Side was not named in the Union’s grievance, but its representative attended the hearing before the Joint Administrative Committee (“JAC”). ZEI moved in district court to vacate the JAC award. In a cross-complaint, the Union added B-Side as a party before the district court. The district court determined that B-Side was vicariously liable for the amounts that ZEI owed to the Union, granted summary judgment and awarded attorneys’ fees in favor of the Union. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §§ 185 and 1132, and we have jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . For the reasons set…