Teamsters Local Union No. 727 Health and Welfare Fund v. PAS LLC

Union Wins $120,000 After Company Refuses to Pay Required Benefits

This case involved a dispute between Teamsters Local Union No. 727's health and welfare fund and PAS, LLC, a company whose workers were covered by a union contract. The union alleged that PAS failed to make required contributions to employee benefit funds, which employers must pay under collective bargaining agreements to provide healthcare and other benefits to workers.

When the union sued, PAS refused to cooperate with the court. The company failed to produce payroll records that would show how much it owed and ignored court orders to make the required benefit payments. Because of this non-compliance, the court entered a default judgment against PAS.

The court awarded the union $120,291 in unpaid contributions, plus additional interest and penalty damages under federal ERISA law, which governs employee benefit plans.

What this means for workers: If your employer has a union contract requiring benefit contributions, those payments aren't optional – they're legally required. When companies try to skip these payments, unions can successfully sue to recover the money, ensuring workers don't lose healthcare and other benefits they've earned through their labor agreements.