Ray Haluch Gravel Co. v. Cent. Pension Fund of Int'l Union of Operating Eng'rs (571 U.S. 177)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 15, 2014 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 571 U.S. 177 · 134 S. Ct. 773
- Decided
- January 15, 2014
- Term
- October Term 2013
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court. Federal courts of appeals have jurisdiction of appeals from "final decisions" of United States district courts. 28 U.S.C. § 1291. In Budinich v. Becton Dickinson & Co., 486 U.S. 196, 108 S.Ct. 1717, 100 L.Ed.2d 178 (1988), this Court held that a decision on the merits is a "final decision" under § 1291 even if the award or amount of attorney's fees for the litigation remains to be determined. The issue in this case is whether a different result obtains if the unresolved claim for attorney's fees is based on a contract rather than, or in addition to, a statute. The answer here, for purposes of § 1291 and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, is that the result is not different. Whether the claim for attorney's fees is based on a statute, a contract, or both, the pendency of a ruling on an award for fees and costs does not prevent, as a general rule, the merits judgment from becoming final for purposes of appeal. I Petitioner Ray Haluch Gravel Co. (Haluch) is a landscape supply company. Under a collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) with the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 98, Haluch was required to pay contributions to union-affiliated benefit funds. Various of those funds are respondents here. In 2007, respondents (Funds) commissioned an audit to determine whether Haluch was meeting its obligations under the…
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