Barry Wright Corp. v. ITT Grinnell Corp.

2 Mass. Supp. 203
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedFebruary 26, 1981
DocketCiv. A. No. 78-485-S
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Mass. Supp. 203 (Barry Wright Corp. v. ITT Grinnell Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barry Wright Corp. v. ITT Grinnell Corp., 2 Mass. Supp. 203 (D. Mass. 1981).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SKINNER, D.J.

This action is brought pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §15 to recover damages for alleged violations of the antitrust laws. Plaintiff claims that defendants have violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § § 1 and 2), Sections 2(a) and 2(f) of the Clayton Act, as amended by the Robinson-Patman Act (15 U.S.C. § § 13(a) and 13(f) ) and Section 3 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. § 14).

Plaintiff also alleges an action in contract against one defendant, ITT Grinnell Corp; (ITT), and in tort against both defendants. In addition, plaintiff asserts violations of Mass. Gen. Laws c.93A, .§§2 and 11, which prohibit unfair competition. This Court’s jurisdiction over the contract, tort, and Chapter 93A claims is pendent to its jurisdiction over the antitrust claims.

[205]*205Defendants, ITT and Pacific Scientific Coip. (Pacific), have filed a, motion for partial summary judgment as to the antitrust claims in counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. In opposition to this motion, the plaintiff Barry Wright Corp. (Barry) has submitted 251 documents. Pacific seeks to strike several of these documents.

I. Motion to Strike

Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e) requires that a party opposing summary judgment set forth facts which “would be admissible in evidence” indicating that there is a genuine issue for trial. Hahn v. Sargent, 523 F.2d 461, 466 (1st Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 904. Exhibits which have not been properly authenticated cannot be used. Hamilton v. Keystone Tankship Corp., 539 F.2d 684, 686 (9th Cir. 1976); 10 Wright and Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, §2722 at pp. 486-87 (1973).

Pacific claims that 25 of the exhibits relied upon in Barry’s brief have not been properly authenticated. In particular, Pacific argues that exhibits 18, 34, 35, 44, 52, 87, 108,118,135,137,141,187,188 and 208 have not been identified by anyone during deposition testimony. Pacific also contends that exhibits 43,63,66,88,115,116,125, 142, 146 and 187 have been significantly impeached by various deponents. Finally, Pacific asserts that a document numbered 23301, which is referred to in Appendix B of Barry’s brief in opposition to defendant’s motion for summáry judgment, has not been filed with this Court.

The impeachment of exhibits 43, 63, 66, 88, 115, 116, 125, 142, 146 and 187 by deponents does not render these documents inadmissible. The deponents’ testimony would affect only the weight to be accorded these exhibits by fact-finders at a trial. Exhibits 18,52,87,118,137 and 141 have been identified by deponents and should not be stricken.

In regard to exhibit 188, a document containing nine columns of hand-written figures, a deponent has testified that the first eight columns of numbers were in his handwriting. Consequently, only the 9th column, titled “Discount %”, should be stricken.

Exhibit 34 is a memorandum from Mr. Feingold, an employee of ITT, to Mr. Sherbourne, another employee of ITT. The memorandum is stamped “General Manager’s Office — Feb. 10[sic] 1975 — Pipe Hanger Division”. The last page of the memorandum indicates that copies were to be sent to three individuals including Mr. Milman, a vice president of ITT. Mr. Milman has testified during a deposition, however, that he does not recall receiving exhibit 34. There is no other deposition testimony identifying the memorandum.

In my opinion, the lack of testimony identifying exhibit 34 does not preclude its authentication. Rule 901(b)(4) of the Federal Rules of Evidence provides that “appearance, contents, substance, internal patterns or other distinctive characteristics, taken in conjunction with circumstances” may satisfy the requirement of authentication. Since this memorandum is addressed by one employee of ITT to another and bears a stamp already described above, there is sufficient authentication to allow it to be considered in the motion for summary judgment.

This is also true for exhibits 35, 44, 108, 135 and 208. Exhibit 44, a memorandum between two ITT employees on Stationery marked “ITT Grinnell Inter Office Correspondence” and stamped “Received — Pipe Hanger Division — Jul. 25, 1975”, is sufficiently authenticated. Similarly, exhibit 108, a price quotation on Pacific’s stationery which was addressed to ITT, stamped “Received”, and produced by ITT, is properly authenticated. Moreover, exhibit 135, a snubber sales report written on Pacific stationery and stamped “received — Nov. 8 [sic] 1976 — PSCO Sales Dept.” is authenticated by its contents. I also conclude that exhibits 35 and 208 fulfill the authentication requirements of Fed. R. Evid. 901 because both of these documents were produced from ITT’s files and both contain information which a firm would be 'likely to record in the ordinary course of business.

The final document to be considered is number 23301. This document has never been filed with this court. Accordingly, it cannot be stricken, but reference thereto [206]*206will be disregarded.

Accordingly, Pacific’s motion to strike is DENIED with respect to exhibits 18, 34, 35, 44, 52, 87, 108, 118, 135, 137, 141, 187, the first eight columns of 188, 208, and document 23301. The motion is ALLOWED for the ninth column of numbers in exhibit 188 listed under the heading “Discount %”. .

II. Summary Judgment

Defendants have moved for partial summary judgment with respect to counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. In determining ’ whether summary judgment is appropriate, the court must examine the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Thyssen Plastik Anger KG v. Induplas, Inc., 576 F.2d 400, 401 (1st Cir. 1978), quoting Hahn v. Sargent, 523 F.2d 461, 464 (1st Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 904. All parties have had the benefit of exhaustive discovery.

The submission of the parties, viewed in the light most favorable to Barry, warrants the following findings of facts: ITT is a pipe hanger company. A pipe hanger company designs pipe support systems used in nuclear reactors. Part of the pipe support system is a snubber. A snubber is a shock absorbing device which restrains sudden movements of a nuclear reáctor’s piping system in the event of earthquakes or explosions. ITT sells snubbers, either as part of its pipe hanging apparatus or separately to architectural and engineering firms (A & Es).

Until 1975, ITT supplied its own hydraulic snubbers for all nuclear power plaht projects. During the period 1974-1975, however, regulatory agencies and nuclear reactor builders became concerned about leaking fluid in hydraulic snubbers. As a result, the A & Es began to purchase only mechanical snubbers which do not use hydraulic fluids.

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Bluebook (online)
2 Mass. Supp. 203, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barry-wright-corp-v-itt-grinnell-corp-mad-1981.