Bolivar v. Pocklington

137 F.R.D. 202, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9476, 1991 WL 126159
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJanuary 28, 1991
DocketCiv. No. 90-1311(PG)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 137 F.R.D. 202 (Bolivar v. Pocklington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bolivar v. Pocklington, 137 F.R.D. 202, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9476, 1991 WL 126159 (prd 1991).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

PEREZ-GIMENEZ, Chief Judge.

This is a civil action brought by plaintiff, Eduardo Ferrer Bolivar, against Herbert L. Pocklington. Plaintiff alleges, inter alia, that Hatteras International, Division of Genmar Industries, failed to renew a dealership agreement with all or one of three corporations, Villa Marina Yacht Sales, Inc., Villa Marina Yacht Harbour, Inc., and San Juan Bay Marina, Inc. (“Villa Marina”), of which Ferrer is president and sole stockholder. Ferrer also avers that Pock-lington, who is president of Hatteras International, tortiously interfered with the dealership agreements which Villa Marina had with Hatteras International and with another company, Bertram Yachts, as well as, generally, with Villa Marina’s prospective business advantage. There is no coherent explanation to be found in plaintiff’s allegations as to why Ferrer, rather than Villa Marina, appears as the plaintiff in this action. Ferrer does not explain why he is ignoring the corporate existence of Villa Marina, which would be the party entitled to any possible relief under the allegations of the complaint.

It appears that Villa Marina had indeed filed the same claims in this Court on May 23,1989, in an action captioned Villa Marina Yacht Sales, Inc., et al v. Hatteras Yacht, Hatteras International, et al. On February 14, 1990, judgment of dismissal was entered by another judge of this Court in that action. On March 1, 1990, that is, only a few days after that action was dismissed and while the judgment of dismissal was pending appeal, Ferrer filed the instant action, which is identical to the dismissed action.

Moreover, Civil Case No. 89-0709(GG) was not the first time in which Ferrer had filed these claims against Pock-[204]*204lington under Act 75 of June 24, 1964, and Article 1802 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code. On February 10, 1989, Ferrer, as well as Villa Marina, filed an action in the Superior Court of Puerto Rico against Pocklington claiming tortious interference with the dealership agreement between Villa Marina and Harteras, requesting injunctive relief, presumably under Act 75, against Harteras and compensation for an alleged injury to Villa Marina’s and Ferrer’s reputation.1 On or about May 19,1989, Villa Marina and Ferrer unilaterally and voluntarily dismissed these claims. The Court takes judicial notice under Fed.R.Evid. 201 of the Superior Court’s proceedings.

In view of the foregoing circumstances, Ferrer’s notice of voluntary dismissal filed in the instant action is the second time Ferrer’s claims against Pocklington have been voluntarily dismissed.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(1) provides that a notice of dismissal operates as an adjudication of the merits of an action when filed by a plaintiff who has once dismissed an action in any court of the United States or of any state based on or including the same claim. Medina v. Chase Manhattan Bank, 737 F.2d 140, 143 (1st Cir.1984); Island Stevedoring, Inc. v. Barge CCBI, 129 F.R.D. 430, 431-432 (D.P.R.1990). As summarized previously, the Superior Court action voluntarily dismissed by Ferrer as to Pocklington includes one or more of the claims made in the instant action, such as the claim for violation of Act 75, tortious interference with the Harteras dealership agreement, and for injury to business reputation, which has been titled tortious interference with prospective business advantage in the complaint filed in the instant action.

Moreover, since plaintiff filed his notice of voluntary dismissal under Fed. R.Civ.P. 41(a)(1), the Court did not have to enter judgment. See Universidad Central del Caribe, Inc. v. Liaison Committee on Medical Education, 760 F.2d 14, 18 n. 4 (1st Cir.1985). Despite the fact that the notice of voluntary dismissal filed by Ferrer purports to dismiss the action without prejudice, it is, in fact, the second voluntary dismissal of the same claims and, hence, it is an adjudication on the merits of those claims between the parties. Robertshaw-Fulton Controls Co. v. Noma Electric Corporation, 10 F.R.D. 32 (D.C.Md. 1950). Hence, the judgment of dismissal without prejudice entered by this Court on November 14, 1990, is hereby vacated under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(1).

Under that rule, the Court can alter or vacate a final judgment by reason of inadvertence and surprise as in this case. The following are sufficient reasons to relieve the defendant from the judgment. Plaintiff failed to certify in his notice that he had served by mail upon defendant a copy of the Notice of Voluntary Dismissal. This may have caused the Clerk’s failure to notify Pocklington of the entry of the judgment. Moreover, Pocklington had no reason to anticipate that judgment would be entered given the automatic dismissal provided for under Rule 41(a)(1). Therefore, the Court finds that there had been excusable surprise and inadvertence on defendant’s part which justifies an order vacating the judgment upon defendant’s diligent and reasonable action in seeking relief from the judgment on December 19, 1990. See R.E. Rodgers v. Watt, 722 F.2d 456 (9th Cir.1983). See also Buckeye Cellulose Corp. v. Braggs Electric Construction Co., 569 F.2d 1036 (8th Cir.1978) (decided under Rule 60(b)(6) because motion was filed more than a year after entry of judgment); Cf. Scola v. Boat Frances R., Inc., 618 F.2d 147 (1st Cir.1980). Defendant learned of the existence of the judgment on December 4, 1990.2

[205]*205It should be noted that defendant had advised plaintiff and this Court that this was the second voluntary dismissal of the same claims in a motion filed after the filing of Ferrer’s notice of dismissal but prior to the entry of judgment. Clearly, plaintiff cannot rely on a judgment which he never had a right to expect. Defendant, on the other hand, has an undeniable right to expect that plaintiff will not file these claims for a third time. Moreover, it would be truly unfair to defendant to let the judgment of dismissal without prejudice stand insofar as plaintiff has filed this action in violation of Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 and 28 U.S.C. § 1927.

We now turn to address this issue. Given plaintiff’s and plaintiff’s attorney’s conduct in filing this action, sanctions are appropriate under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and Fed.R.Civ.P.

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Bluebook (online)
137 F.R.D. 202, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9476, 1991 WL 126159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bolivar-v-pocklington-prd-1991.