Pierce County Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Health Trust v. Elks Lodge, B.P.O.E. No. 1450

Puyallup Elks Lodge B.P.O.E. No. 1450 (Lodge) appeals an award of delinquent employee benefit contributions to Pierce County Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Health Trust and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Pension Trust (Trusts). The Lodge claims that the district court should have considered extrinsic evidence to interpret the meaning of an ambiguous contract term, and that the action is barred by modification, the statute of limitations, estoppel, and laches. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

The Lodge entered into consecutive collective bargaining agreements in 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1983 with the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union Local No. 8 (Union) and its predecessor union locals. Each contract obliged the Lodge to pay pension and health contributions to the Trusts for “any person performing work covered by this agreement, whether such employees are members of the union in good standing or not.”

The Trusts are third party beneficiaries of the collective bargaining agreements and are multiemployer employee benefits plans governed by section 302 of the Labor-Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 186 , and section 401 of the Employee Retirement Income…