Opinion
Civ. No. 13-cv-1350 (KBJ)
07-22-2014
SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION NATIONAL INDUSTRY PENSION FUND, et al., PLAINTIFFS, v. CRYSTAL CLEANING SYSTEMS, INC., DEFENDANT.
OPINION ADOPTING
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Plaintiff Service Employees International Union National Industry Pension Fund ("Fund") is an "employee pension benefit plan" and "multiemployer plan" as defined by ERISA, and "a jointly administered trust fund established pursuant to" the LMRA, which is administered in the District of Columbia. (Compl. ¶ 4.) The individual Plaintiffs in this action, who administer the Fund for its beneficiaries, are authorized Trustees of the Fund and also fiduciaries as defined by ERISA. (Id. ¶ 5.) Plaintiffs have brought this action against Defendant Crystal Cleaning Systems, Inc. alleging that Defendant has failed to submit remittance reports, to pay required contributions and surcharges, and to pay interest and liquidated damages that it had accrued on late-paid contributions, in violation of collective bargaining agreements that Defendant has entered into with a local Service Employees International Union affiliate.
Plaintiffs filed the complaint in this matter on September 6, 2013, and served Defendant on September 18, 2013. (See Return of Service/Affidavit, ECF No. 4.) Defendant never responded to the complaint, and the Clerk of Court filed an entry of default on November 15, 2013. Plaintiffs moved for default judgment on December 16, 2013, and on February 4, 2014, this Court referred the matter to a Magistrate Judge for full casement management, up to but not including trial. The assigned Magistrate Judge, Deborah A. Robinson, issued a Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 12, attached hereto as Appendix A) regarding Plaintiffs' motion for default judgment, which reflects her belief that Plaintiffs' motion for default judgment should be granted and that judgment should be entered against Defendant. (Report and Recommendation at 2.) Magistrate Judge Robinson further recommended that this Court order Defendant to conduct an accounting of unpaid contributions, submit outstanding remittance reports, and pay the corresponding contributions and related charges that are due and owing to the Fund. (Id. at 9-10.) The Report and Recommendation also advised the parties that either party may file written objections to the Report and Recommendation, which must include the portions of the findings and recommendations to which each objection is made and the basis for each such objection. (Id. at 11.) The Report and Recommendation further advised the parties that failure to file timely objections may result in waiver of further review of the matters addressed in the Report and Recommendation. (Id.)
Under this Court's local rules, any party who objects to a Report and Recommendation must file a written objection with the Clerk of the Court within 14 days of the party's receipt of the Report and Recommendation. LCvR 72.3(b). As of this date—over a month after the Report and Recommendation was issued—no objections have been filed.
The Court has reviewed Magistrate Judge Robinson's report and will ADOPT the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. See LCvR 72.3(c) (district judge may accept in whole the findings and recommendations of the magistrate judge); ITPE Pension Fund v. Stronghold Security, LLC, No. 13cv0025, 2014 WL 702580 (Feb. 25, 2014). Accordingly, the Court will GRANT Plaintiffs' motion and enter default judgment against Defendant. A separate order and judgment consistent with this opinion will follow.
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KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
United States District Judge