CHARLESTON — A local plumber's union is suing JBus Plumbing Heating and Air for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Jeromy Buskirk was also named as a defendant in the suit,
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 565 and Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 565 Pension Fund claim on Sept. 18, 2014, Buskirk signed the collective bargaining agreement between Local 565 and the Plumbing and Piping Contractors of the Parkersburg Area Plumbing, Heating & Mechanical Contractors Association, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
The plaintiffs claim the collective bargaining agreement obligated and continues to obligate the association and all other employers signing on to the agreement to contribute monthly to the plaintiffs and pay all other fringe benefits on behalf of all employees in the bargaining unit covered by the agreement.
"The Collective Bargaining Agreement requires that employers make monthly payments and file monthly Remittance Reports for fringe benefits on or before the fifteenth (15th) day of each month," the complaint states. "The monthly Remittance Reports are utilized by the employers to calculate the payments they owe to Plaintiffs."
The defendants made late contributions and failed to make contributions to the plaintiffs for various months during the time period of February 2015 through May 2017, according to the suit.
The plaintiff claims the amount of fringe benefit contributions owed is unknown because JBus has failed to comply with multiple requests for an audit.
"Defendants’ refusal to remit payment to plaintiffs and submit to an audit violates the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the provisions of the Local 565 Pension Fund, Jeromy Buskirk’s fiduciary duty owed to plaintiffs, and the requirements of ERISA," the complaint states.
The union is seeking an order requiring the defendants to fully comply with an audit of records, judgment on behalf of the plaintiffs for all unpaid fringe benefit contributions and liquidated damages. They are represented by John F. Dascoli of John F. Dascoli PLLC in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:23-cv-00214