Bally Case & Cooler, Inc. v. I.A. Kramer Service, Inc.

252 So. 2d 559, 1971 La. App. LEXIS 5632
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 15, 1971
DocketNo. 4370
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 252 So. 2d 559 (Bally Case & Cooler, Inc. v. I.A. Kramer Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bally Case & Cooler, Inc. v. I.A. Kramer Service, Inc., 252 So. 2d 559, 1971 La. App. LEXIS 5632 (La. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

BOUTALL, Judge.

This is a suit by a material man against a subcontractor, contractor and surety on a public works job in New Orleans. The various defendants filed answer to plaintiff’s petition and thereupon plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court rendered a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff against all defendants for the amount of the claim plus 10% attorney’s fees, and the contractor and the sureties have taken this appeal. The sole question before the court is whether the affidavits and exhibits furnished in connection with the motion for summary judgment present a genuine issue of fact for trial.

Plaintiff’s petition alleges that it sold a certain walk-in cooler to I. A. Kramer Service, Inc., a subcontractor to Quinn Construction Company, Inc., general contractor, and that this cooler, together with the related equipment, was installed by Kramer at the new McDonogh #24 Public School in the City of New Orleans. It further alleges that the price of the materials furnished has not been paid, and for purpose of security, plaintiff filed an affidavit of lien in accordance with the Public Works Statute. Based on these allegations plaintiff seeks to recover payment from the subcontractor, Kramer, the general contractor, Quinn, and the surety on the contract, National Surety Corporation. It is further alleged that the lien of plaintiff was bonded out by the Firemens Fund Insurance Company, and, accordingly, it is made a party defendant.

The defendant, I. A. Kramer Service, Incorporated, filed a general denial to plaintiff’s petition. The other defendants answered and basically admitted all of plaintiff’s allegations, except that they denied the furnishing and installing of the equipment and that there was any amount due and owing by them or by the other defendant, I. A. Kramer Service, Incorporated. In connection with their answer, they further allege that Mr. Irvon A. Kramer signed an affidavit of indemnity and surety in favor of Quinn Construction Company, and, accordingly, they instituted a third party demand against Mr. Kramer individually.

The plaintiff thereupon filed a motion for summary judgment, and in connection therewith filed an affidavit of one of its officers and the deposition of Irvon A. Kramer, the President of I. A. Kramer Service, Inc. previously taken in connection with the lawsuit. In response to the motion for summary judgment, Quinn Construction Company, Inc., and National Surety Corporation filed an opposition and attached the affidavit of F. Pat Quinn, Jr., President of Quinn Construction, Inc. Firemens Fund Insurance Company and I. A. Kramer Service, Incorporated did not make any written opposition nor file any affidavits. Judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against I. A. Kramer Service, Incorporated, Quinn Construction Company, Incorporated, Firemens Fund Insurance Company and National Surety Corporation, individually and in solido. From that judgment, Firemens Fund Company National Surety Corporation and Quinn Construction Company, Inc., take the present appeal.

The appellants urge to this court that summary judgment should not have been granted in this case because there is a material issue of fact existing between the parties, i. e., the installation of Bally’s material on the construction job in question, either in whole or in part. They contend [561]*561that the judgment was based upon the dep^ osition of Mr. Irvon A. Kramer, who admitted all of the facts necessary to judgment by the plaintiff, and that under the doctrine of the case of Banes v. Prinz, 185 So.2d 50 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1966), the deposition of Mr. Kramer is or amounts to the self-serving admissions of an insurer, and cannot be binding against the insured, so as to justify a summary judgment. It therefore becomes necessary to examine the basis of the rendition of summary judgment and the applicable law.

As previously mentioned, the plaintiff filed two documents in connection with its motion for summary judgment, the first an affidavit of its officer, and the second the deposition of Mr. Kramer. The affidavit is that of Mr. K. G. Kern, credit manager of plaintiff, whose affidavit specifically states that plaintiff sold and delivered to I. A. Kramer Service, Inc. a walk-in cooler, fully equipped, described in an attached invoice which detailed the materials furnished, and, further, that this equipment was shipped to 419 Verdette Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, for the purpose of being installed permanently in the Mc-Donogh #24 Elementary School at that address, and, in fact, was so installed by I. A. Kramer Service, Inc. The affidavit then recites that the cooler and the related equipment was installed in such a manner as to be permanently a part of the school building; that no part of the price had been paid to plaintiff by anyone, and that all of the facts necessary to the preservation of its lien were taken, detailing them specifically.

The deposition of Mr. Irvon A. Kramer admitted all of these facts: the purchase of the items, the receipt of the items, and installation of them in a permanent manner, and that no payment had ever been made. He further recited that Quinn Construction Company was retaining under its contract some $29,000.00 or thereabouts and had made no payment on the equipment although it had been operating properly ever since its installation. In response to questions put to him by counsel for appellants, subject to his prior objection noted, he said that although he had done other mechanical work on other schools, he had no jobs to install such a walk-in cooler.

In opposition to this the appellants rely upon the affidavit of Mr. F. Pat Quinn, Jr., President of Quinn Construction Company, Inc., in which he admits the various contracts between Quinn Construction Company and I. A. Kramer Service, Incorporated; that Bally Case and Cooler, Inc., filed a lien in connection with the furnishing of the cooler and that the lien was bonded out. However, he recites that he does not know what the items invoiced on the invoice in question reflect nor is he sure that the items invoiced thereon were actually used on the job site or actually delivered to the job site since the invoice does not show a delivery receipt. The affidavit further recites that at the time that this work was going on, I. A. Kramer Service, Incorporated was doing work on at least two other school plans, both of which included similar or like equipment, and that there is therefore a material issue of fact as to delivery and use of the equipment. The affidavit further recites that the affiant does not know whether any funds paid for the other equipment used were paid on this invoice or should have been applied to the invoice, rather than other invoices issued by plaintiff. The affidavit further recites that although Mr. Kramer admitted under oath that the debt was due, that, because of the fact that Mr. Kramer had filed bankruptcy proceedings personally, it would be to his advantage to make such an admission in order to relieve Mr. Kramer individually of any liability which he may have to Quinn Construction Company, Inc., under the surety or indemnity agreement, and would allow I. A. Kramer Service, Incorporated to proceed with the collection of any funds due it from [562]*562other contracts existing for work done by the corporation.

As this court views the affidavit in opposition, it is apparent that the affidavit does not specifically deny any material fact which was put into issue by the plaintiff, but simply says that it does not know whether such facts exist. The documents in support of the motion for summary judgment set forth specific, material facts.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
252 So. 2d 559, 1971 La. App. LEXIS 5632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bally-case-cooler-inc-v-ia-kramer-service-inc-lactapp-1971.