Sandra Jean Smith, Etc. v. Retirement Fund Trust of the Plumbing, Heating and Piping Industry of Southern California

OVERVIEW

The Retirement Fund Trust of the Plumbing, Heating and Piping Industry of Southern California (Trust) appeals from the district court’s sua sponte grant of summary judgment in favor of Sandra Smith in an action to recover disability pension benefits due to her late husband Donald Smith and to her as a surviving spouse. The district court held that § 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 152 (3) (hereafter § 2(3)), did not bar Smith’s participation in the Trust during 1968-71, as the Trust claimed, and it ordered Smith’s pension credits recalculated to include those years. We affirm.

FACTS

Beginning in 1968 Smith was employed by C & H Heating Company, a corporation in which his father was a 50% shareholder. C & H was signatory to a collective bargaining agreement under which it participated in the Trust, and Smith performed work covered by that agreement. However, during 1968-71 he was not a member of the union, and C & H did not make contributions to the Trust on his behalf. Smith joined the union in 1972, at which time C & H reported him to the Trust and began making contributions. Shortly thereafter Smith began receiving quarterly statements of his…