UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

____________________________________ ) MICHAEL R. FANNING, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-2151 (ABJ) ) HOTEL MANAGEMENT ) ADVISORS – TROY, LLC, ) ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________)

MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Michael R. Fanning, in his official capacity as Chief Executive Officer of the Central Pension Fund of the In ternational Union of Operatin g Engineers and Participating Employers (“Fund”), brought this action againstHotel Management Advisors – Troy, LLC on December 1, 2011, alleging that defendant failed to contribute to the Fund the proper amount owed under the relevant collective bargaining ag reements. Plaintiff asserts that defendant is bound through its collective bargaining agreements with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local Union No. 324 and other related ag reements to pay certain sums of money into the fund for each hour its employees perform work covered by the relevant agreements. Compl. ¶ 7. Pursuant to the terms of those agreements and because defendant failed to pay, plaintiff asserts that it is entitled to a monetary awar d in the amount of the unpaid contributions, liquidated damages, interest on the unpaid contributions, as well as costs and attorneys’ fees. Id

. ¶¶ 6–12. On January 20, 2012, the Clerk of the Court file d an entry of default against defendant pursuant to Federal Rule of Civ il Procedure 55(a) [Dkt. # 4]. Now before the Court is the Fund’s2 Motion for Entry of Default Judgment on count one of the complaint pursuant to Rule 55(b) [Dkt. # 5]. 1 Having considered the Fund's submissions, including the Fund's Memorandum in Support of its Motion for Default Judgment, the attachments thereto, a pplicable case law, statutory authority, and the record of the case as a whole, the Court will grant the Fund’s motion. I. Background Plaintiff is the Chief Executive Officer of th e Central Pension Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers and Participating Employers, a multiemployer employee pension plan, organized under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). Compl. ¶ 1. The Fund provides reti rement, disability, survivor, and death benefits to individuals working as engineers in vari ous industries throughout the United States. See Decl. of Michael R. Fanning (“Fanning Decl.”) ¶ 6. Employers contribute to the Fund pursuant to the terms of various collective bargaining agreements entered into with local unions of the International Union of Operating Engineers. Id . ¶ 7. Defendant is one such signatory employer obligated to make contributions to the F und under the terms of its collective bargaining agreement and the Fund’s Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust. Id . ¶¶ 8–10. The collective bargaining agreements to which defendant is a party provide that for every hour worked by an employee that is covered by the agreement, defendant is obligated to pay contributions to the Fund in addition to wages. Id . ¶ 9. Defendant submitted reports to the Fund indi cating the number of hours worked by its employees under the collective bargaining agreement. Id . These submissions indicate that defendant owes a total of $3,140.35 in unpaid contri butions to the Fund for two periods of work

1 Plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of count two of the complaint. [Dkt. # 6]. Therefore, the Court’s entry of default judgment as to count one of the complaint will constitute a final judgment.3 by its employees: April 2010 to July 2010, and September 2010 to May 2011. Id. ¶ 10; Ex. D to Fanning Decl. In addition to unpaid contribu tions, plaintiff alleges that defendant owes liquidated damages at the rate of 15% and interest on the unpaid contributions at the rate of 9% per annum from the date due until date paid, pursuan t to Sections 4.5(b) and (c) of the Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust respectively. 2 Fanning Decl. ¶ 11; see also Ex. A to Fanning Decl. at §§ 4.5(b)–(c). Plaintiff has calcul ated that liquidated da mages for the relevant periods totals $471.05 and that interest at the rate of 9% per annum from the date due until January 31, 2012 totals $323.87. Fanning Decl. ¶ 11; see Ex. D to Fanning Decl. Finally, plaintiff alleges that defendant is obligated to pay to the Fund all costs, audit expenses, and attorneys’ fees incurred by the Trustees in enforcing the parties’ agreements, pursuant to Section 4.5(e) of the Restated Agre ement and Declaration of Trust. Mem. in Support of Mot. for Entry of J. by Default (“Pl.’s Mem.”) at 5–6; Ex. A to Fanning Decl. at § 4.5(e). As set forth in the Declaration of R. Richard Hopp, counsel of record for the Fund, the Fund incurred legal costs in the amount of $500.00 and attorneys’ fees in the amount of $575.00 in enforcing the terms of the parties’ agreement. See Declaration of R. Richard Hopp (“Hopp Decl.”) ¶¶ 4–6. Defendant was served with the complain t and Summons on December 28, 2011, and was therefore required to respond by January 18, 2012 [Dkt. #2]. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(1)(A). Defendant failed to file an answ er or otherwise respond to the pl aintiff’s complaint, and the Fund subsequently moved for entry of default. [Dkt. # 3]. On January 20, 2012, the Clerk of the Court entered defendant’s default for failure to plead or otherwise defend this action [Dkt. # 4]. The

2 Although Section 4.5(b) of the Restated Agr eement and Declaration of Trust authorizes liquidated damages to be assesse d at the rate of 20%, the Fund requests only 15% in its motion for default judgment. See Pl.’s Mem. in Supp. of its Mot. fo r Default J. (“Pl.’s Mem.”) at 4.4 Fund subsequently filed the instant motion for entry of judgment by default on February 6, 2012 [Dkt. # 5]. As of the date of this Order, defe ndant has not entered an appearance nor filed any pleadings in this case.
II. Legal Standard Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(a) provide s that the clerk of the court must enter a party's default “[w]hen a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defe nd, and that failure is shown by affidavit or otherwise.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). After a default ha s been entered, a court may enter a default judgment order pursuant to Rule 55(b). “The determination of whether default judgment is appropriate is committed to the discretion of the trial court.” Int'l Painters & Allied Trades Indus. Pension Fund v. Auxier Drywall, LLC , 531 F. Supp. 2d 56, 57 (D.D.C. 2008), citing Jackson v. Beech , 636 F.2d 831, 836 (D.C. Cir. 1980). Upon entry of default by the clerk of the court, the “defaulting defendant is deemed to admit every well-pleaded allegation in the complaint.” Int'l Painters & Allied Trades Indus. Pension Fund v. RW Amrine Drywall Co., Inc. , 239 F. Supp. 2d 26, 30 (D.D.C. 2002) (internal citation omitted). “Although the default establishes a defendant’s liability, the court is required to make an independent determination of the sum to be awarded unless the amount of damages is certain.” Id ., citing Adkins v. Teseo , 180 F. Supp. 2d 15, 17 (D.D.C. 2001). Accordingly, when moving for a de fault judgment, the plaintiff must prove its entitlement to the amount of monetary damages requested. Id . “In ruling on such a motion, the court may rely on detailed affidavits or documentary evidence to determine the appropriate sum for the default judgment.” Id. , citing United Artists Corp. v. Freeman , 605 F.2d 854, 857 (5th Cir. 1981).5 III. Analysis Where, as here, there is a complete “absence of any request to set aside the default or suggestion by the defendant that it has a meritorious defense, it is clear that the standard for default judgment ha s been satisfied.” Auxier Drywall, LLC , 531 F. Supp. 2d at 57 (internal quotation marks omitted). The Clerk of the Court entered defendant’s default, and the factual allegations in the complaint are therefore taken as true. See R.W. Amrine Drywall Co., Inc. , 239 F. Supp. 2d at 30. The Court finds that the Fund’s c omplaint sufficiently al leges facts to support its claims. Accordingly, the Fund is entitled to default judgment as to defendant’s liability for its failure to timely pay contributions to the Fund under the terms of defendant’s collective bargaining agreement and related agreements. Although the default establishes a defendant’s liability, the Court makes an independent determination of the sum to be awarded in the judgment unless th e amount of damages is certain. Adkins , 180 F. Supp. 2d at 17. Here, pursuant to the terms of the Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, Defendant is obligated to pay: (1) the total amount of unpaid contributions still outstanding for the period of time from Apr il 2010 to July 2010 as well as for the period of time from September 2010 to May 2011; (2) liquidate d damages at the rate of 15%; (3) unpaid interest at the rate of 9% per annum; and (4) legal costs, attorneys’ fees and audit costs. See Pl.’s Mem. at 4–6; Fanning Decl. ¶¶ 10–11; see also Ex. A to Fanning Decl. § 4.5. Additionally, pursuant to section 502(g) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. Section 1132(g)(2), the Fund is entitled to: (A) the unpaid contributions; (B) interest on the unp aid contributions; (C) liquidated damages in an amount equal to the greater of (i) the intereston the unpaid contributions, or (ii) the amount provided for under the plan not in excess of 20% (o r such higher percentage as may be permitted under Federal or State law) of the amount dete rmined by the court under subparagraph (A); (D)6 reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of the action, to be paid by the defendant, and (E) such other legal or equitable relief as the court deems appropriate. As summarized above, plaintiff filed the declar ations of Fanning and Hopp in support of its motion for default judgment. See Fanning Decl.; Hopp Decl. Based on these uncontroverted declarations, the Court finds that plaintif f has established damages in the amount of: • $3,140.35 in unpaid contributions (the sum of $1,024.43 for the period April 2010 to July 2010, and $2,115.92 for the period September 2010 to May 2012); • $471.05 in liquidated damages for the unpaid contributions; • $323.87 in interest on the unpaid contributi ons, as calculated through January 31, 2012; • $1,075.00 in costs and attorneys’ fees (the sum of $500.00 in legal costs and $575.00 in attorneys’ fees).
See 29 U.S.C. §§ 1132(g)(2)(A)–(D); Ex. A to Fanning Decl. § 4.5; Ex. D to Fanning Decl. Therefore, pursuant to the terms of the Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust and 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(2), the Court shall award th e Fund a monetary judgment in the amount of $5,010.27.7 IV. Conclusion Accordingly, the Fund’s Motion for Entry of Default Judgment [Dkt. #5] will be granted. Judgment will be entered against Defendant Hotel Management Advisors – Troy, LLC in the amount of $5,010.27. A separate order will issue.

AMY BERMAN JACKSON United States District Judge DATE: May 4, 2012