Boone v. Aeronca, Inc.

669 F. Supp. 1353, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8894
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedSeptember 28, 1987
DocketC-C-86-406-P
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 669 F. Supp. 1353 (Boone v. Aeronca, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boone v. Aeronca, Inc., 669 F. Supp. 1353, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8894 (W.D.N.C. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

ROBERT D. POTTER, Chief Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant’s, Aeronca, Inc. (“Aeronca”), and Plaintiff's, Richard Boone (“Boone”), Motions for summary judgment, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Aeronca asserts that, as a matter of the State of Ohio’s substantive contract law, Boone is not entitled, under the terms of a Sales Representative Agreement, to a commission on a $170,000,000 military procurement contract awarded to Aeronca by the United States Government in September 1984. For the reasons that follow, Aeronca’s Motion will be granted.

BACKGROUND FACTS

The following material facts appear from the pleadings and depositions submitted by the parties. Boone is an individual citizen of Georgia, and Aeronca is an Ohio corporation domesticated under the laws of the State of North Carolina doing business in Charlotte, North Carolina. 1 On March 21 and 22, 1983, Boone and S.M. Ehlinger, who was a vice-president, general manager, and representative of Aeronca, executed in Ohio a document entitled “Sales Representative Agreement” (“the Agreement”). 2 The Agreement and its terms form the center of the present controversy between the parties.

Under the terms of the Agreement, Boone was to serve Aeronca as an independent contractor with a non-exclusive, nonassignable right to assist Aeronca in its sales efforts in a seven state territory that included Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. 3 The Agreement was to go into effect March 1,1983, and it was to run for a term of one year from the date of its execution. 4

After the Agreement was executed, Boone worked for Aeronca in accordance with the Agreement’s terms, and he called upon existing Aeronca accounts and solicited new and other business for Aeronca. 5 Thereafter, in a letter dated December 27, 1983, an employee of Aeronca, L. Wayne Snider, informed Boone that Aeronca had elected to terminate the Agreement as of January 27, 1984, pursuant to Paragraph *1355 7.B of the Agreement. 6 The letter explains that Aeronca was terminating the Agreement because the southeastern United States sales territory had not been nor would be productive for either Aeronca or Boone. 7 The letter also states that according to Aeronca’s records the only commission Boone had earned under the Agreement was one for an engine flaps contract from Pratt and Whitney. 8

On or after January 30, 1984, after the termination date of the Agreement, Aeron-ca received a Survey for Potential Offerors from the Department of the Air Force. 9 The Air Force sent this document to Aeron-ca and others in order to inform them that a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) on certain C-141 aircraft spare parts would be issued in the future.

The C-141 is a four-jet engine, military heavy transport plane built by Lockheed and purchased and used by the Air Force. 10 The C-141 has certain parts called aft cowl doors that are used to cover the jet engines, and they provide access for maintenance to the jet engines. The aft cowl doors are more prone to require replacement than other parts of the C-141, and so spares are needed. 11 A single source, Rohr Manufacturing (“Rohr”), traditionally made these spare aft cowl doors for the C-141. 12

On or about March 14, 1984, Aeronca received a solicitation for bids to produce the aft cowl doors. 13 On July 13, 1984, Aeronca submitted an offer to produce the aft cowl doors for a firm fixed price. 14 Thereafter, the Air Force and Aeronca exchanged correspondence on the bid until on or about September 24, 1984 when the Air Force accepted Aeronca’s bid to produce the required number of aft cowl doors for a total price of $17,061,318. 15 In a letter dated April 22, 1985, H.L. Brundage, Vice President for Marketing for Aeronca, notified Boone that, under the terms of the Agreement, he was not entitled to any commission for the C-141 aft cowl doors. 16 Thereafter, on September 3, 1986, Boone filed the present suit in this Court seeking a one percent commission on the aft cowl door contract. He alleges that Aeronca owes him approximately $170,000 under the terms of the Agreement. 17

THE COMPLAINT

In his Complaint, Boone asserts that Aer-onca hired him to work as a “break-out” specialist in the aircraft and aerospace industry. 18 A “break-out” basically works in this way: The Government often procures an entire military aircraft program, like the C-141, from a single industrial manufacturer. That manufacturer is called a prime contractor or a sole-source. A “break-out” occurs when the Government identifies elements of that program as capable of being produced by manufacturers other than the sole-source. These suitable elements are then presented to industry as the subject of secret competitive bidding. If a bid to produce these aircraft elements is accepted from a manufacturer capable of doing the necessary, and often highly complex, engineering, tooling, and production, then these elements of the original military program have been “broken-out.” 19 The Govem *1356 ment can reduce the cost of a program through the process of breaking-out some of its component parts.

According to Boone, the above description of a break-out is far too simple. Instead, Boone asserts that a break-out is the result of various governmental and nongovernmental groups and individuals communicating with each other and coordinating their efforts: Industry, the Small Business Administration, and the Air Force’s Competition Advocacy Group are all players in this bureaucratic mechanism. 20 Boone alleges that Aeronca received the broken-out C-141 aft cowl door contract because, as Aeronca’s sales representative, he worked closely with the governmental players involved in breaking-out the aft cowl doors. 21

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
669 F. Supp. 1353, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boone-v-aeronca-inc-ncwd-1987.