🗞️ Turned Away at the Door: Federal Labor Board Sends Plumbing Dispute Back to Hearing

A federal labor board issued a fractured ruling Wednesday in a years-long dispute between a Long Island plumbing contractor and the union that brought charges on behalf of four workers and job applicants, declining to enter a default judgment against the company and instead ordering a formal hearing to resolve sharply conflicting accounts of a single November morning.

The National Labor Relations Board, in a 2-to-1 decision, denied the General Counsel's motion for default judgment against Village Plumbing & Heating NY Inc., a Bohemia-based contractor, and sent the matter back to the agency's Brooklyn regional office for proceedings before an administrative law judge.

The case traces its origins to charges filed in early 2022 by the New York State Pipe Trades Association, which accused the company of violating federal labor law by discriminating against employees and job applicants on the basis of their union affiliation. Those allegations, brought under Section 8(a)(3) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act, were never fully litigated. Instead, the company entered into a settlement agreement in May 2023, agreeing to reinstate two workers, Marjan Pejkovic and David McIntosh, and to offer employment to two union-affiliated job applicants, Paul Cotto and Joseph Squicciarini.

The settlement did not go smoothly. After a series of missed deadlines and extensions stretching into the fall of 2023, all four individuals accepted reinstatement offers and appeared at the company's offices on the morning of November 27, 2023, only to be told there was no work for them. The company did not respond to follow-up inquiries from the regional office, and by December 2024, a formal complaint had been filed citing the company's failure to honor the agreement.

The General Counsel sought a default judgment, the procedural equivalent of a win on the merits, arguing the company had plainly refused to fulfill its obligations. Under the standard the board has applied in similar cases, including ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA, LLC, 362 NLRB 621 (2015), default judgment is appropriate only when there is no genuine dispute about whether a settlement was breached.

The majority, led by Chairman James R. Murphy and joined by Member Scott A. Mayer, concluded that the company had raised enough factual questions to warrant a hearing. In sworn affidavits, the company claimed the workers arrived at its corporate offices rather than a job site, showed up without tools, were not dressed for field work, refused to provide current phone numbers, used profanity and told management they would never work for the company again. Those allegations, the majority found, could not be resolved on the papers alone.

Member David M. Prouty disagreed. In a pointed dissent, he argued that the company's defenses were largely of its own making. The company had known for weeks that the workers planned to report on November 27 and yet said nothing in advance about where they should go, what they should wear or what tools to bring. It had contact information for all four individuals and could have reached them at any time through union counsel. "The Respondent dragged out the process of offering reinstatement and employment to these discriminatees for almost three years," Prouty wrote, adding that the company had shown not even a "particle" of good faith throughout. In his view, the undisputed facts were sufficient to grant the motion outright.

The case will now proceed to a hearing limited to the narrow question of whether the company fully complied with the settlement agreement.

Key Points

• Charges filed in January and March 2022 by the New York State Pipe Trades Association, alleging union-based discrimination under NLRA Section 8(a)(3) and (1).
• Settlement approved in May 2023 over the Union's objections, requiring reinstatement of two employees and employment offers to two job applicants.
• On November 27, 2023, all four individuals reported to the company's corporate offices as planned. The company says it turned them away because no work had been assigned; the workers and the General Counsel contend the company simply failed to honor the agreement.
• Default judgment standard: Under NLRB procedure, the General Counsel must show no genuine dispute of material fact exists before the board will enter judgment without a hearing.
• Majority ruling (2-1) denied default judgment, finding the company's account of the workers' conduct on November 27 raised factual questions requiring full evidentiary proceedings.
• Dissent by Member Prouty contended that the company's defenses were self-generated after its own initial failure to act, and that the undisputed facts were sufficient to find a breach without a hearing.
• Outcome: Case remanded to Region 29 for a hearing before an administrative law judge, limited to compliance with the settlement's terms.
• Significance: The decision reinforces established NLRB precedent that default judgment is unavailable whenever a respondent raises a colorable factual defense, even after extended non-compliance.

Primary Source Author: Chairman James R. Murphy and Member Scott A. Mayer (majority); Member David M. Prouty (dissenting)

Primary Source: Village Plumbing & Heating NY Inc. and New York State Pipe Trades Association, 374 NLRB No. 96 (April 15, 2026)

Primary Source Link: NLRB Case 29-CA-289082

Supplemental Links

• NLRB: Discriminating Against Employees Because of Their Union Activities (Section 8(a)(3))
• NLRB: How the Board Facilitates Settlements
• NLRB: How the Board Decides Cases
• NLRB Case Docket: 29-CA-289082
• ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA, LLC — NLRB Default Judgment Standard (2015)
• NLRB Basic Guide to the National Labor Relations Act (PDF)