Opinion ID: 677824
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Plaintiffs' Claim Under Sec. 301 of the LMRA

Text: 19 Section 301 authorizes suits for the violation of a contract between an employer and a labor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce. See 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a). The Union is clearly authorized to sue under Sec. 301; plaintiff Soracco, as administrator of the Funds, may sue on behalf of the Funds as third party beneficiaries of the collective bargaining agreement. See Benson v. Brower's Moving & Storage, Inc., 907 F.2d 310, 313 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 982, 111 S.Ct. 511, 112 L.Ed.2d 524 (1990). Although federal law governs disputes arising under Sec. 301, we previously recognized in Lerner v. Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union, 938 F.2d 2 (2d Cir.1991), that state law, 'if compatible with the purpose of Sec. 301, may be resorted to in order to find the rule that will best effectuate the federal policy'  and adopted the law of New York to resolve a claim against a corporate president for monies owed under a collective bargaining agreement. Id. at 5 (quoting Textile Workers Union v. Lincoln Mills, 353 U.S. 448, 457, 77 S.Ct. 912, 918, 1 L.Ed.2d 972 (1957)). Under New York law, an agent who signs an agreement on behalf of a disclosed principal will not be individually bound to the terms of the agreement 'unless there is clear and explicit evidence of the agent's intention to substitute or superadd his personal liability for, or to, that of his principal.'  Id. at 5 (quoting Mencher v. Weiss, 306 N.Y. 1, 4, 114 N.E.2d 177 (1953)). The factors to be examined in assessing the signatory's intention include the length of the contract, the location of the liability provision(s) in relation to the signature line, the presence of the signatory's name in the agreement itself, the nature of the negotiations leading to the contract, and the signatory's role in the corporation. See id. 20 Judge Nickerson properly determined on the basis of undisputed facts that Article XXV of the 1987 CBA imposed personal liability on Jeffrey Lollo. Article XXV of the agreement expressly stated that the signatory signs 21 in a dual capacity both on behalf of himself and on behalf of the Employer and represents by his signature his authority to bind himself, the Employer or Firm, and the principals and members thereof. The person signing on behalf of the Employer also agrees to be personally bound by and to assume all obligations of the Employer provided for in this Agreement. 22 This provision unequivocally fixes personal liability on the signatory and is prominently displayed immediately above the signature line. Moreover, defendants do not dispute the Union's assertion that the provision was expressly bargained for and reached after much negotiation. Finally, although Jeffrey's name was not included in the text of the agreement, it was written into the contract above the signature line, and it is undisputed that Jeffrey had the authority to sign on behalf of the company as its President and on behalf of himself. Based on these factors, we agree with the district court's determination that Article XXV bound Jeffrey Lollo personally for the obligations owed by the company to the Union and the Funds under the 1987 CBA. 23 We also agree with the district court that the other Lollo defendants should not be held personally liable on the basis of the terms found in the 1987 CBA. Plaintiffs' claim against the other Lollos relies on Article X, Sec. 8(e), which states that: 24 The President, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, individual partner, employee of the partnership, officer, stockholder, proprietor or employee of the corporation, company, joint venture or proprietorship acknowledges that he or she is vested with the authority and control over the submission of reports and/or payment of contributions to the [Funds] and acknowledges that he or she shall be personally and individually obligated to submit the required reports and/or pay the required contributions to the [Funds] for all work performed by Employees. 25 This provision is located on page 34 of a 55-page contract and does not identify who, exactly, will be bound by it. Nowhere in the agreement are the holders of the referenced offices denominated, and nowhere do the names of Peter, Lawrence, Steven and Anthony Lollo appear. In addition, the clause attempts to foist personal liability for Lollo, Inc.'s obligations on any employee of the company, a generalization which makes the validity of the clause suspect. The absence of signatures by any of the Lollo defendants besides Jeffrey further erodes the force of this provision since the agreement lacks a signed intention by the remaining Lollo defendants to assume the company's debts. 26 Plaintiffs alternatively argue that Jeffrey's signature is sufficient to bind his family members because Article XXV, previously quoted, states that the signatory represents by his signature his authority to bind himself, the Employer or Firm, and the principals and members thereof. However, this phrase is ambiguous because the contract never identifies the principals and members of the Firm. Moreover, it does not clearly indicate that the other Lollo defendants agreed to accept personal liability for the company's obligations. Given the presumption in Lerner against finding personal liability absent an express assumption of such responsibility, we think the district court's ruling was correct in denying summary judgment against the other Lollo defendants for non-payment of union dues and fund contributions. 27 Accordingly, we hold that of the Lollo defendants, only Jeffrey is properly held liable under Sec. 301 of the LMRA for the payment of union check-off dues and ERISA contributions owed under the 1987 CBA. 28