A. Barletta & Sons, Inc. v. Tribble & Stephens Co. (In re A. Barletta & Sons, Inc.)

185 B.R. 976, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1264
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 20, 1995
DocketBankruptcy Nos. 5-92-00666, 5-92-01279; Adv. No. 5-94-0166A
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 185 B.R. 976 (A. Barletta & Sons, Inc. v. Tribble & Stephens Co. (In re A. Barletta & Sons, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A. Barletta & Sons, Inc. v. Tribble & Stephens Co. (In re A. Barletta & Sons, Inc.), 185 B.R. 976, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1264 (Pa. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge.

This matter was initiated by the above-captioned Debtors/Plaintiffs, A. Barletta & Sons, Inc. and A. Barletta & Sons, a partnership, hereinafter (“Plaintiffs”), against Trib-ble & Stephens Co., et al., by adversary complaint filed September 16, 1994. The instant matter deals with a Motion for Summary Judgment filed on behalf of all of the above-captioned Defendants, hereinafter (“Defendants”). The complaint contains various counts all stemming from a sub-contract dealing with certain site work namely, providing asphalt paving and installation of a water-main system at a project commonly known as Mount Pocono Plaza located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 940 and Oak Street, Mount Pocono, Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

Defendant-CenterPoint, as owner, entered into a written construction agreement with DefendanteTribble & Stephens Co., as general contractor, on or about August 23, 1989 for the construction of the Mount Pocono Plaza project. Thereafter, on or about August 31, 1989, Plaintiffs entered into a subcontract with Defendant-Tribble & Stephens Co. for work to be performed at that project. The contract called for Plaintiffs to supply [978]*978labor and materials for asphalt paving and installation of a water-main system. The original amount of the contract was One Million Four Hundred Thirty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Ten Dollars ($1,435,610.00) but, with certain change orders, the total amount allegedly due to the Plaintiffs increased to One Million Five Hundred Nine Thousand Five Hundred Thirty-Five Dollars ($1,509,-535.00). Of that amount, Plaintiffs allege that they have been paid One Million Sixty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Ninety-Eight and 01/00 Dollars ($1,062,598.01). Plaintiffs allege that the work under the sub-contract agreement was performed by the Plaintiffs from a period of August, 1988 through September, 1990.

Plaintiffs also provided labor and materials for the installation of a “ductile iron line system” to replace the water-main system required under the specifications for the project. The Plaintiffs allege that material and costs to install the ductile iron line system approximated Five Hundred Sixty-Nine Thousand Five Hundred Eighty-Eight and 93/100 Dollars ($569,588.93). Plaintiffs’ claim is in excess of One Million Dollars ($1,000,-000.00).

The several counts of the complaint comprise the following: Count I — Breach of Contract — Tribble & Stephens Co.; Count II— Unjust Enrichment — Tribble & Stephens Co.; Count III — Quantum Meruit — Center-Point Properties, Inc.; Count IV — Unjust Enrichment — CenterPoint Properties, Inc.; Count V — Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations — CenterPoint Properties, Inc.; Count VI — Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations — Tribble & Stephens Co.; Count VII — Equitable Subordination — Tribble & Stephens Co.; and Count VIII — Equitable Subordination — Center-Point Properties, Inc.

In addition to all the monetary damages requested by the Plaintiffs, they also request this court to equitably subordinate the Defendants’ claims, to the extent they are allowed, to all claims of other creditors pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 510 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Some of the allegations against Center-Point Properties, Inc. and Tribble & Stephens Co. allege that bonding companies were notified by a letter to Pachence Insurance Agency of the failure of the ductile iron line and paving at the project which thwarted attempts by Plaintiffs to receive performance and payment bonds for future projects. This failure to receive performance and payment bonds hampered the Plaintiffs’ business operations because the actions by CenterPoint Properties, Inc. and Tribble & Stephens Co. were taken in callous disregard of the Plaintiffs’ rights and without diligent investigation as to any liability for failure at the project.

The Defendants argue that because the contract specifically provides that it shall be construed under the law of Texas that this court should apply Texas law in resolution of the instant adversary. In that regard, they argue that the applicable Texas statute of limitations has run, barring the instant lawsuit. They argue that Plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim is barred under Texas’ four-year statute of limitations found at Texas Civil Practice and Remedy Code Section 16.051 and that Plaintiffs’ unjust enrichment and contractual interference claims are barred under Texas’ two-year statute of limitations found at Texas Civil Practice and Remedy Code Section 16.003. In both cases, Defendants’ argue that the project, at the very latest, was completed in July of 1990 and the instant complaint was not filed until September 16, 1994, well over the two-year and four-year statutes of limitations indicated above.

As an alternative argument, Defendants claim that Plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim, unjust enrichment claim, and quantum meru-it claim are all governed by Pennsylvania’s four-year statute of limitations and are just as time-barred citing J¡,2 Pa.C.S.A § 5525. Likewise, Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations found in lp2 Pa.C.S.A § 552U would bar Plaintiffs’ contractual interference claim.

Initially, the court must decide whether to apply Texas or Pennsylvania law to the instant adversary. In response to Defendants’ position, the Debtors argue that, under Pennsylvania conflict of laws principles, Pennsylvania law should be applied to [979]*979interpreting the sub-contraet. The Plaintiffs assert that the interest and policies of the various states may overrule a specific choice of law provision found in a contract where the state named in the contract has no connection with the contract or its performance. Furthermore, even though the sub-contract provides that it shall be governed by the laws of the state of Texas, Pennsylvania conflict of laws principles dictate that Pennsylvania substantive law should be applied in interpreting the contract. Also, Plaintiffs claim that the sub-contract is one of adhesion and, therefore, the clause providing for application of Texas law is unenforceable.

In support of the Plaintiffs’ position, they draw our attention to the ease of LCI Communications, Inc. v. Wilson, 700 F.Supp. 1390 (W.D.Pa.1988). In that case, dealing with an employment contract, the court wrote the following at 1396. “Pennsylvania courts honor choice of law provisions in contracts, provided that the choice of forum does not seriously impair the Plaintiffs ability to pursue his cause of action.” Citing Central Contracting Co. v. C.E. Youngdahl & Company, Inc., 418 Pa. 122, 133, 209 A.2d 810, 816 (1965).

The instant sub-contract does not provide for a forum foreign to either of the parties. In fact, the Plaintiffs in this case have controlled the selection of the forum by selecting and filing an adversary complaint in this court and a lawsuit in the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in 1991.

Admittedly, there are many contacts with the state of Pennsylvania but there is no other argument presented to show that the interests and policies of Pennsylvania should overrule a specific choice of law provision found in this contract.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
185 B.R. 976, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/a-barletta-sons-inc-v-tribble-stephens-co-in-re-a-barletta-pamb-1995.