DocketNumber: No. WD-07-026.
Citation Numbers: 2008 Ohio 2992
Judges: HANDWORK, J.
Filed Date: 6/20/2008
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/18/2021
{¶ 2} Briefly, appellee/cross-appellant, Vaughn Industries, Inc. ("Vaughn"), is a private construction contractor whose employees performed work on two public projects at Bowling Green State University in Wood County, Ohio. Id. at ¶ 4. These projects are known as the Electrical Distribution System Project and the Psychology Building Project. Id. Appellant/cross-appellee, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 8 ("IBEW"), is a labor union that "represents over 2,000 electrical workers in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan." Id. at ¶ 5. In 2001, IBEW filed two complaints against Vaughn with the Administrator of the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, raising alleged violations of R.C. Chapter
{¶ 3} Each party subsequently submitted a motion for summary judgment. Id. at ¶ 15 and ¶ 16. Vaughn's motion for summary judgment alleged that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to entertain IBEWs complaint. Id. at ¶ 15. IBEWs motion asked the lower court to grant it summary judgment on its claims involving alleged violations of R.C.
{¶ 4} On February 3, 2003, the common pleas court granted Vaughn's motion for summary judgment and denied IBEW's motion for summary judgment. Id. at ¶ 17. IBEW appealed1 . Id. at ¶ 20. On appeal, we first determined that the trial court had the jurisdiction to consider IBEW's civil action. Id. at ¶ 33. We then addressed the proper method for calculating the fringe benefits credit, see id. at ¶ 61. We declined to consider IBEW's other assignments of error because they were not decided by the lower court, id. at ¶ 63, and remanded this cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with our judgment, id. ¶ 65.
{¶ 5} Upon our remand, IBEW filed a second motion for summary judgment in which it asked the trial court to declare that Vaughn violated R.C.
{¶ 6} Vaughn filed a memorandum in opposition and its own motion for summary judgment on the same four issues. As to the fourth issue, Vaughn pointed out that it calculated its fringe benefit credits pursuant to the method set forth by this court in IBEW I. Specifically, Vaughn claimed that for the purpose of determining compliance with Ohio's Prevailing Wage Law, it calculated the fringe benefits credit "on an hour-for-hour basis by dividing [its] total contribution to fringe benefits on public projects by the total number of hours worked by [its] employee[s] on public projects." Id. at ¶ 61.
{¶ 7} On November 7, 2007, the common pleas court entered a judgment in which it denied both IBEW's and Vaughn's motions for summary judgment on the issues raised relative to R.C.
{¶ 8} On October 10, 2006, the court held a trial to the bench on the remaining claims alleging violations of R.C.
{¶ 9} IBEW appeals the trial court's judgment and asserts that the following errors occurred in the proceedings below:
{¶ 10} "I. The trial court committed reversible error when it denied appellant/cross-appellee's (``Local 8') second motion for summary judgment.
{¶ 11} "II. The trial court committed reversible error when it granted Vaughn's Civ. R. 54(B) motion for reconsideration.
{¶ 12} "III. The trial court committed reversible error when it ruled in favor of Vaughn in its March 26, 2007 trial order.
{¶ 13} "IV. The trial court committed reversible error by failing to hold that Vaughn violated R.C.
{¶ 14} "V. The trial court committed reversible error by refusing to hold Vaughn's certified payroll reports violated R.C.
{¶ 15} "VI. The trial court committed reversible error by refusing to hold that Vaughn intentionally violated R.C.
{¶ 16} "VII. The trial court committed reversible error by refusing to hold that Vaughn underpaid its employees in violation of R.C.
{¶ 17} Vaughn filed a timely cross-appeal and raises a single cross-assignment of error:
{¶ 18} "The trial court incorrectly ruled that appellant Vaughn Industries, Inc. was not entitled to an award of attorney fees pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 19} In Assignment of Error No. I, IBEW contends that the trial court erred in denying its renewed motion for summary judgment on all four of its claims, specifically, the alleged violations of: (1) R.C.
{¶ 20} In Continental, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that "any error by a trial court in denying a motion for summary judgment is rendered moot or harmless if a subsequent trial on the same issues raised in the motion demonstrates that there were genuine issues of material fact supporting a judgment in favor of the party against whom the motion was made." Id. at the syllabus. That holding is based upon the conclusion that "a full and complete development of the facts at trial (as opposed to the limited factual evidence elicited upon discovery) showed that the [non-moving party was] entitled to judgment." Id., at 156.Continental is expressly limited to cases involving questions of material fact, as opposed to cases involving pure questions of law. Id., at 159.
{¶ 21} Prior to applying the rule set forth in Continental we must first note that the common pleas court did not, technically speaking, deny IBEW's motion for summary judgment based upon a purported violation of R.C.
{¶ 22} The remaining issues raised by appellant are not a pure question of law. Rather, the judgment of the trial court in determining whether Vaughn violated R.C.
{¶ 23} In Assignment of Error II, IBEW contends, in essence, that the trial court abused its discretion in granting Vaughn's motion for reconsideration of its grant of summary judgment to IBEW on the issue of whether Vaughn violated R.C.
{¶ 24} In the present case, Vaughn premised its motion for reconsideration on a recent case decided by this court on the subject of what constitutes compliance with R.C.
{¶ 25} As they all relate to the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Vaughn on the issue of alleged violations of R.C.
{¶ 26} An appellate court reviews a trial court's grant of summary judgment de novo, and, therefore, applies the same standard used by that court. Lorain Natl. Bank v. Saratoga Apts. (1989),
{¶ 27} IBEW argues that Vaughn's certified copies of its payroll reports did not disclose the calculated hourly fringe benefit paid to each employee subject to the strictures of R.C. Chapter
{¶ 28} R.C.
{¶ 29} In Dimech, Vaughn brought an action against Dimech Services and six of its subcontractors, including Shambaugh, for alleged violations of prevailing wage law that occurred during the course of a public works project. Id. at ¶ 5 and ¶ 7. Vaughn asserted, inter alia, that Shambaugh violated R.C.
{¶ 30} On appeal, this court overruled the finding of the trial court. Id. at ¶ 39. Our rationale for this decision was the fact that Shambaugh's payroll officer included a statement of compliance with its certified payroll reports. Id. at ¶ 29. The relevant portion of the statement of compliance consisted of only a box marked with an "X" denoting that: "In addition to the basic hourly wage rates paid to each laborer or mechanic listed in the payroll, payments of fringe benefits as listed in the contract have been or will be made to appropriate programs for the benefit of such employees * * *." Id. at ¶ 37. *Page 12
{¶ 31} As applied to the present case, Vaughn's certified payroll reports also include "Statement of Compliance" avowing, in material part:
{¶ 32} "(a) WHERE FRINGE BENEFITS ARE PAID TO APPROVED PLANS, FUNDS, OR PROGRAMS
{¶ 33} "(X)-In addition to the basic hourly wage rates paid to each laborer or mechanic listed in the above referenced payroll, payments of fringe benefits as listed in the contract have been or will be made to appropriate programs for the benefit of such employees * * *."
{¶ 34} Therefore, it appears that the statement of compliance in this cause is on all fours with the Dimech case. IBEW argues, however, thatDimech is distinguishable from the instant action because Shambaugh was a signatory to the collective bargaining agreement "between National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc., and the Road Sprinkler Fitters Local Union 669." Id. at ¶ 5. IBEW thus maintains that because the prevailing wage schedules in both Shambaugh and this case are "derived exclusively from the collective bargaining agreements covering the various trades in a project's locale," Vaughn was required to be a signatory to IBEW'S collective bargaining agreement or the rule in Dimech is inapplicable. We disagree.
{¶ 35} First, this court never made such a holding. The import of Local Union 669's collective bargaining agreement was discussed only as it related to the ratio of apprentices to skilled workers on the job site. Id. at ¶ 24-25. Furthermore, as noted by Vaughn, the contract referred to in Dimech was the contract between Dimech Services, *Page 13
its subcontractor, Shambaugh, and the public entity, Bowling Green State University, for their work on a new student union. Id. at ¶ 5. Therefore, the trial court did not err in applying the holding inDimech to the instant case and granting summary judgment to Vaughn on the issue of whether Vaughn violated R.C.
{¶ 36} IBEW's Assignment of Error No. III essentially argues that the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law with regard to R.C.
{¶ 37} A civil judgment that is "supported by some competent, credible evidence going to all the essential elements of the case will not be reversed by a reviewing court as being against the manifest weight of the evidence." C.E. Morris Co. v. Foley Constr. Co. (1978),
{¶ 38} IBEW's Assignment of Error No. IV contends that the trial court's determination that Vaughn did not violate R.C.
{¶ 39} R.C.
{¶ 40} "On the occasion of the first pay date under a contract, the contractor or subcontractor shall furnish each employee not covered by the collective bargaining agreement or understanding between the employers and bona fide organizations of labor with individual written notification of the job classification to which the employee is assigned, * * * and the identity of the prevailing wage coordinator appointed by the public authority. The contractor or subcontractor shall furnish the same notification to each affected employee every time the job classification of the employee is changed."
{¶ 41} At the trial of this cause, Matthew Plotts, the President of Vaughn Industries, Inc., testified that his company did not have the name of the prevailing wage coordinator at the inception of the Psychology Building project. When Vaughn learned the name of the coordinator, they posted it on the "job box" at the site of the construction. *Page 15
According to Plotts, the job box "is a big metal box that hinges up" and contains the tools for Vaughn employees. Not only was the identity of the prevailing wage coordinator posted, in writing, on this box, other vital information related to the prevailing wage determination, OSHA, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, and worker's compensation was also posted on the job box. IBEW failed to offer any evidence tending to show that the name of the prevailing wage coordinator was not posted by the first payday under Vaughn's contract with Bowling Green State University, that any of Vaughn's employees were subject to the strictures of R.C.
{¶ 42} IBEW also asserts Vaughn violated R.C.
{¶ 43} Plotts' testimony revealed that electrical apprentices were notified any time that their wages were changed, but that their status/classification as electrical apprentices did not change during the course of the projects. Moreover, Exhibits G and L submitted by Vaughn enumerates the classifications of the employees who worked on the projects. Consequently, the trial court's judgment on this issue is supported by some competent, credible evidence and is, therefore, not against the manifest weight of the evidence. IBEW's Assignments of Error Nos. III and IV, which challenge the trial court's judgment in favor of Vaughn on the purported violations of R.C.
{¶ 44} IBEW's Assignment of Error No. VII maintains that the trial court's judgment is against the manifest weight of the evidence in that Vaughn is not entitled to the fringe benefit credit that it claims; thus, the employees on the two public projects were underpaid. IBEW further contends that Vaughn, in calculating what it contributes per hour to its Voluntary Employment Benefit Association ("VEBA") and "training trust" fringe benefits, does not limit these payments only to public employees working on public hours. In short, IBEW argues that Vaughn only applies employer contributions to prevailing wage hours. IBEW claims that this method of calculating fringe benefit credits is the same as it was five years ago and was rejected by this court in IBEW I. The union asks this court to find that Vaughn should receive zero fringe benefit credits pursuant to Ohio Adm. Code
{¶ 45} To repeat, in IBEW I, this court determined that to be in "compliance with Ohio's Prevailing Wage Law, and unless otherwise modified by the administrator, fringe benefits credit must be calculated on the hour-for hour-basis by dividing the total contribution to fringe benefits on public projects by the total number of hours worked by the employee on public projects." A thorough review of the trial testimony given by Vaughn's President, Matthew Plotts, and Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Smalley, as well as the voluminous records related to the calculation of the fringe benefits credit that were entered into evidence at trial, reveals some competent, credible evidence that this credit was calculated properly. Accordingly, IBEW's Assignments of Error No. III, as it relates to R.C.
{¶ 46} In its cross-assignment of error, Vaughn complains that the trial court erred in failing to grant its request for attorney fees.
{¶ 47} R.C.
{¶ 48} "Where, pursuant to this section, a court finds a violation of sections
{¶ 49} Pursuant to the second sentence in R.C.
{¶ 50} We cannot say the common pleas court, in denying Vaughn's motion for attorney fees was unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable. In particular, this court determined in IBEW I that the manner in which Vaughn sought to determine the fringe benefit credit for the public projects in this cause was incorrect. Id. at ¶ 61. Therefore, this cause was not brought without foundation, and Vaughn's sole cross-assignment of error is found not well-taken.
{¶ 51} The judgment of the Wood County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed. Appellant and appellee are each ordered to pay one-half of the cost of this appeal pursuant to App. R. 24. Judgment for the clerk's expense incurred in preparation of the record, fees allowed by law, and the fee for filing the appeal is awarded to Wood County.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to App. R. 27. See, also, 6th Dist. Loc. App. R. 4. *Page 19
Peter M. Handwork, J., Mark L. Pietrykowski, P.J., William J. Skow, J., concur.