Masonry company ordered to pay $30K to pension funds, attorneys

CHARLESTON – Garrett Masonry must pay more than $30,000 as a result of a lawsuit that alleged it had not submitted all of its required monthly contributions to a group of pension funds.

U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver made his ruling Jan. 4, seven months after granting the funds’ motion for a default judgment against Jeff Garrett and Garrett Masonry of Liverpool.

The plaintiffs in the case are the Ohio Bricklayers Health and Welfare Fund, the Ohio Bricklayers Pension Fund, the International Masonry Institute and the Bricklayers and Trowel Trades International Pension Fund.

They allege Garrett violated collective bargaining agreements between it and the Bricklayers and Allied Crafts District Council of West Virginia.

“Defendant Garrett Masonry has submitted some but not all required monthly reports and contribution payments,” says the complaint, filed in March.

“With each report it has filed, it has acknowledged its obligations pursuant to the CBA. Each failure by Defendant Garrett Masonry to make the required contributions to the funds in a timely manner is a breach of the CBAs and/or plan documents.”

Garrett breached his duties by failing to remit employer contributions to the funds, the complaint says.

After the default judgment, the two sides disagreed on how much was owed. Copenhaver went with the plaintiffs’ calculations.

Garrett must pay $9,271.90 in delinquent contributions, $7,503.15 in delinquency assessments and $13,805.70 in attorneys fees and costs for a total of $30,580.75.

From the West Virginia Record: Reach John O’Brien at jobrienwv@gmail.com.