Cement Masons Pension Fund v. William A. Randolph, Inc.

Plaintiffs, fringe benefit funds administrators, sued defendant, William A. Randolph, Inc., for the failure of its subcontractor to pay its employees the prevailing wage pursuant to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (the Act) (820 ILCS 130/1 et seq. (West 1998)). Defendant moved for dismissal arguing that: (1) the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (514 U.S.C. § 1144(a) (2000)) preempts the Act; and (2) the Act does not provide a cause of action for a subcontractor’s employees to sue a general contractor to recover unpaid prevailing wages. The circuit court granted…