ALLIED CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, INC. v. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 29, 2022
Docket2:16-cv-01379
StatusUnknown

This text of ALLIED CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, INC. v. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION (ALLIED CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, INC. v. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
ALLIED CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, INC. v. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION, (W.D. Pa. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA ALLIED CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, ) INC., for and on behalf of ALLIED ERECTING AND DISMANTLING CO., ) INC., ) Civil Action 2:16-1379-PLD ) Plaintiff, VS. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION, ) Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION

Allied Erecting and Dismantling Co., Inc. (“Allied”)! has asserted breach of contract claims against Defendant United States Steel Corporation (“U.S. Steel’). Based upon consideration of the testimony and evidence presented at trial, the parties’ submissions, and on the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, the Court finds in favor of Allied with respect to certain of its claims, and in favor of U.S. Steel with respect to Allied’s remaining claims. I. Relevant Procedural History Allied commenced this action in September 2016 by filing a five-count breach of contract action against U.S. Steel arising out of their contractual relationship. U.S. Steel’s motion to transfer venue was granted by District Judge David Cercone, who was then presiding over this

! A Motion to Substitute Plaintiff and Modify Caption (ECF No. 205) was granted on June 8, 2021. The substituted plaintiff is “Allied Consolidated Industries, Inc., for and on behalf of Allied Erecting and Dismantling Co., Inc.” and the caption has been modified accordingly. Throughout this opinion, however, Allied Erecting and Dismantling Co. will be referred to as “Allied.” As necessary, the substituted plaintiff will be referred to as “Allied Consolidated.”

case, and Allied’s lawsuit was transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in December 2016. In July 2017, however, this case was transferred back to the Western District of Pennsylvania with Judge Cercone presiding and Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell referred. U.S. Steel then moved for the partial dismissal of Allied’s claims in Counts III and V of the Complaint, as well as for a more definite statement of Count I. In a Report and Recommendation issued on September 14, 2017 (ECF No. 66), Magistrate Judge Mitchell recommended that U.S. Steel’s 12(b)(6) motion be granted as to the dismissal of Paragraph 34(6) of Count III; the weather-delay aspect of Count III (Paragraph 34 (13-14)); and Paragraph 58 (1- 5) of Count V. He further recommended that U.S. Steel’s motion to dismiss Count III, Paragraph 34 (1-5, 7-10, 12-14) (including all non-weather delay aspects of Count IIT), Paragraph 34 (13- 14)) of Count IIT and the request for a more definite statement be denied. Subsequently, over the parties’ respective objections, Judge Cercone adopted the Report and Recommendation as the opinion of the Court (ECF No. 73). After the parties engaged in discovery, U.S. Steel moved for partial summary judgment on Counts I, II, IV, and V of the Complaint. Judge Cercone granted U.S. Steel’s motion only with respect to the claims asserted in Count I, Paragraph 16 (1, 2, 5, 6, 11), and denied all other relief sought by U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel’s subsequent motion for reconsideration was denied by Judge Cercone (ECF No. 131). Upon Magistrate Mitchell’s retirement in June 2019, this case was reassigned to the undersigned. On March 6, 2020, the parties voluntarily consented to have a United States Magistrate Judge conduct all further proceedings in the case, including trial and entry of a final

judgment, with direct review by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit if any appeals are filed. Prior to trial, U.S. Steel filed a Motion to Exclude Purported Expert Testimony and Opinions of Thomas Anness. After its motion was fully briefed and oral argument was held, its motion was denied (ECF No. 151). A thirteen-day bench trial was held between November 2, 2020 and November 20, 2020. □ After the transcript was prepared, the parties submitted Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, as well as post-trial memoranda. The parties presented post-trial closing arguments on April 26, 2021. II. Legal Standard In this breach of contract action, the Court sits as the trier of fact tasked with resolving factual disputes, weighing the credibility of the evidence, and deciding the disputed legal issues between the parties. See FTC v. Innovative Designs, Inc., Civ. Act. No. 16-1669, 2020 WL 758727, at *1 n.2 (W.D. Pa. Feb. 14, 2020); EBC, Inc. v. Clark Bldg. Sys., Inc., Civ. Act. No. 05- 1549, 2008 WL 4922107, at *4 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 13, 2008), aff'd, 618 F.3d 253 (3d Cir. 2010). The Court is also required to assess the credibility of witnesses. EBC, Inc., 2008 WL 4922107, at *4. The Court’s credibility determinations are entitled to significant deference. See VICI Racing, LLC y. T-Mobile USA, Inc., 763 F.3d 273, 282-83 (3d Cir. 2014) (citing Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Ins. Co. of N. Am., 609 F.3d 143, 156-57 (3d Cir. 2010)); Booker v. United States, 789 F. App’x 304, 306 (3d Cir. 2019) (due regard must be given to the “trial court’s judgments as to the credibility of the witnesses”). Based upon these standards, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Fed. R. Civ. P. 52.

Il. Findings of Fact A. The Parties and Their Relationship At all relevant times, Allied was an industrial dismantling contractor based in Youngstown, Ohio with extensive experience performing dismantling work at steel mills, including at various mills for U.S. Steel. (Trial Transcript (“Tr.”) 11/2/20 at 82-85.) Allied performed over 600 dismantling projects for U.S. Steel during their relationship, which began in 1980. (Ud. 87-88; Exhibit (“Ex.”) 25.) Both Messrs. John Ramun and Gordon Lindquist testified at trial on behalf of Allied and this Court finds both to be credible witnesses. Mr. Ramun has been the President of Allied since 1973. Mr. Lindquist, its former general superintendent, worked for Allied for forty-two years until his retirement in 2016. He reported directly to Mr. Ramun. (Tr. 11/10/20 at 137.) In turn, Allied’s project superintendents reported to Mr. Lindquist. (/d.) Mr. Lindquist was involved in all dismantling projects that Allied performed for U.S. Steel. (Tr. 11/2/20 at 10-12, 90.) He prepared the work plans and initial proposals for all U.S. Steel demolition jobs, including those for which U.S. Steel decided to competitively bid demolition work. (/d. at 17-18.) As part of his responsibilities, he was in charge of running projects and tracking progress. (Tr. 11/10/20 at 163-164.) This required extensive travel to project sites and sometimes he could only get to individual sites about once a week. (Tr. 11/10/20 at 140-141.) He reviewed daily reports of the activities on individual projects. (Tr. 11/10/20 at 141-142.) In 2004, Mr. Lindquist also became the chief estimator for Allied’s demolition projects and served in that role until his retirement. (/d. at 19-21.) As part of those duties, beyond his initial scrap estimates for the projects, he also prepared scrap estimates for the monthly scrap offerings to U.S. Steel. Ud.)

Mr. Ramun’s duties included calculating cost estimates and proposals for U.S. Steel projects after Mr. Lindquist completed his work. (Tr. 11/2/20 at 128-130.) Gary Cornelius is a U.S. Steel employee who, starting in 2008, was the liaison with Allied on various projects. (Tr. 11/9/20 at 64.) He interacted with Mr.

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ALLIED CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, INC. v. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/allied-consolidated-industries-inc-v-united-states-steel-corporation-pawd-2022.