Opinion ID: 186875
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of Arbitration Clause of Florida CBA

Text: 26 Next, Dick Corporation argues that the IPF may not bring suit without first complying with the compulsory arbitration provision contained in the Florida CBA. See Appellee's Br. at 41. As the Supreme Court has recognized, however, the presumption of arbitrability is not a proper rule of construction in determining whether arbitration agreements between the union and the employer apply to disputes between trustees and employers. Schneider Moving & Storage Co. v. Robbins, 466 U.S. 364, 372, 104 S.Ct. 1844, 80 L.Ed.2d 366 (1984). Thus, in the absence of an unambiguous expression by the parties to the contrary, pension funds are not required to exhaust collective bargaining agreement arbitration procedures prior to filing an action for collection of delinquent contributions to the pension fund. Flynn v. Interior Finishes, Inc., 425 F.Supp.2d 38, 48 n. 11 (D.D.C.2006). 27 As both third-party beneficiaries of the Florida CBA's trust fund provisions and trustees of an employee-benefit fund, the IPF is entitled to file suit for delinquent contributions free from the CBA's arbitration requirements. See, e.g., Schneider, 466 U.S. at 370-72, 104 S.Ct. 1844 (finding compulsory arbitration inapplicable where third-party beneficiaries invoking CBA provisions are trustees of employee-benefit funds); Robbins v. Lynch, 836 F.2d 330, 333 (7th Cir.1988) (A pension or welfare trust is a third-party beneficiary of the collective bargaining agreement.). To the extent that Dick Corporation relies on Interior Finishes to argue that the Fund is barred from filing suit absent exhaustion because the trustees `are standing in the shoes of the union,' Appellee's Br. at 41 (quoting Interior Finishes, 425 F.Supp.2d at 49), the Company misapprehends the holding. The defendant employer in Interior Finishes did not challenge the [Fund's] ability to seek, on its own behalf, unpaid contributions to the Fund without exhausting ... arbitral remedies. Interior Finishes, 425 F.Supp.2d at 48 (emphasis in original). Indeed, given the Supreme Court's holding in Schneider, that argument could not have prevailed. See id. at 48 n. 11 (quoting Schneider, 466 U.S. at 372, 104 S.Ct. 1844). Instead, in Interior Finishes the defendant employer challenged the Fund's ability to bring suit on behalf of the BAC without first arbitrating such claims. Id. at 49. Because union claims are not protected under Schneider, see 466 U.S. at 372, 104 S.Ct. 1844, the district court in Interior Finishes dismissed the claims made on behalf of the BAC for failure to exhaust arbitral remedies, 425 F.Supp.2d at 50, but allowed the suit to continue with regard to the claims made on behalf of the Fund itself, see id. at 49-50. 28 In this case, the Fund brought suit on its own behalf to collect unpaid contributions, see Appellants' Br. at 3 & n. 2, and the district court properly rejected Dick Corporation's exhaustion defense, see Dick Corp., 384 F.Supp.2d at 202. On the other hand, to the extent the IPF sued to recover union dues, those claims are outside Schneider's holding and must be dismissed.