Opinion
No. 13-35947
07-21-2015
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NORTHWEST METAL CRAFTS TRUST FUND, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. SWEED MACHINERY INC., an Oregon corporation, Defendant - Appellant.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
D.C. No. 2:12-cv-01676-MAT MEMORANDUM Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Mary A. Theiler, Magistrate Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted July 9, 2015 Seattle, Washington Before: NGUYEN and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges and ZOUHARY, District Judge.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
The Honorable Jack Zouhary, District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, sitting by designation. --------
Sweed Machinery Inc. appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Board of Trustees of the Northwest Metal Crafts Trust Fund. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Reviewing de novo, Nw. Adm'rs, Inc. v. Albertson's, Inc., 104 F.3d 253, 255 (9th Cir. 1996), we affirm.
Assuming, without deciding, that the 2007 collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") is ambiguous, we agree with the district court that extrinsic evidence establishes that Sweed was required to make contributions to the Trust Fund in the month following an employee's termination, transfer to a non-union position, or opt-out. See Ariz. Laborers v. Conquer Cartage Co., 753 F.2d 1512, 1518 n.9 (9th Cir. 1985). The Board's uncontradicted evidence of industry practice regarding the reporting of employees' hours to the Trust Fund, coupled with evidence that eligibility for benefits depends on the hours worked by an employee in previous months, supports the district court's conclusion that the Board's interpretation of the CBA is the only one that is consistent with the intent of the parties. Accordingly, the district court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of the Board. See id.
AFFIRMED.