Employee Painters' Trust v. J & B Finishes

Painters District Council No. 5 (the union), the Employee Painters’ Trust, and three other trust funds appeal a grant of summary judgment against them in their suit to impose personal liability upon William Canon, president of Northwest Interiors, Inc., for unpaid union check-off dues and trust fund contributions under a collective bargaining agreement and various trust agreements relating to employee pensions. Canon cross-appeals the denial of his request for an award of attorney’s fees. We reverse the summary judgment in favor of Canon and affirm the denial of attorney’s fees.

I.

Canon signed a two-page counterpart or “me-too” agreement with the union that bound the “employer” to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement between the union and the multiemployer Drywall Association and to the terms and conditions of the trust agreements.

Canon was not provided with copies of the collective bargaining or trust agreements prior to signing the counterpart agreement. Under the agreements, Northwest was responsible for making trust fund contributions on behalf of its employees, abiding by the trust agreements, and deducting from pay and remitting “check-off’ dues and special…