Bristol Village, Inc. v. Louisiana-Pacific Corp.

916 F. Supp. 2d 357, 79 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 462, 2013 WL 55698, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183342
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 3, 2013
DocketNo. 12-CV-263S
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 916 F. Supp. 2d 357 (Bristol Village, Inc. v. Louisiana-Pacific Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bristol Village, Inc. v. Louisiana-Pacific Corp., 916 F. Supp. 2d 357, 79 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 462, 2013 WL 55698, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183342 (W.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

WILLIAM M. SKRETNY, Chief Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Bristol Village, Inc. commenced this putative class action alleging, among other things, that Defendant Louisiana-Pacific Corporation1 breached express and implied warranties with respect to its TrimBoard product. Presently before this Court is Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss all causes of action except Plaintiffs breach of express warranty claim. The Court has reviewed the submissions and finds oral argument unnecessary. For the reasons that follow, Defendant’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is an assisted living facility located in Clarence Center, New York. (Am. Compl. ¶ 9.) TrimBoard, a composite-wood trim product, was installed in Plaintiffs facility in November 2003. (Id ¶¶ 9, 26, 64-65.) TrimBoard is used:

[361]*361as fascia, a trim band running horizontally and situated vertically under the roof edge or forming the outer surface of a cornice; soffit, applied near the roof line of a structure; corner board, which functions as trim on the corners of a building; bandboard, which functions as a trim divider between floor levels on the exterior of a wall; and window trim and door trim/casing. Trim[B]oard is also marketed for use in other typical exterior applications.

(Id. ¶ 26.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant marketed TrimBoard “as a low-cost wood trim alternative that is actually superior to real wood trim.” (Id. ¶¶ 28-29.)

Defendant warranted TrimBoard “exclusive of finish, against delamination, checking, splitting, cracking and chipping of the basic substrate for a period of ten years from the date of installation under normal conditions of use and exposure,” and upon any failure within that time period, Defendant would “compensate the owner for repair and replacement of the affected trim no more than twice the original purchase price.” (Am. Compl. Ex. A.) TrimBoard also came with a five-year warranty on its primer “against peeling, blistering, or cracking” from the date of installation. (Id.) The warranty included the following notice: “THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.” (Id. (emphasis in original))

Plaintiff commenced the instant action in this Court in 2012 against Defendant and ABT Building Products Corporation, alleging that the TrimBoard on Plaintiffs facility “is now rotting, swelling, cracking, and peeling.” (Am. Compl. ¶ 67.)

In particular, the fascia trim on Plaintiffs structure has exhibited significant swelling at butted joints. The ends of boards in these types of installations are site-cut, but are not ‘exposed’ such that they require sealing and priming — a fact that should be stated in installation instructions, but was not stated in Defendant’s installation instructions. Ml fascia installed on Plaintiffs structure with butted joints has exhibited swelling. Fascia installed on Plaintiffs structure at butted-joints is also delaminating.

(Id. ¶ 68.). Further, the TrimBoard installed around Plaintiffs windows and as other trim has also exhibited damage. (Id. ¶¶ 69-70.) Plaintiff alleges that, as a result of the defective TrimBoard, the structure of Plaintiffs facility sustained significant water damage and parts thereof are rotting. (Id. ¶ 73.) Accordingly, Plaintiff asserted causes of action in its initial Complaint for: (1) breach of express warranty; (2) breach of implied warranty of merchantability; (3) negligence; (4) unjust enrichment; (5) violation of New York’s Deceptive Trade Practices Law, General Business Law § 349(a); (6) punitive damages; and (7) declaratory and injunctive relief. (Compl. ¶¶ 84-140, Docket No. 1.)

In lieu of answering, Defendant moved to dismiss the Complaint in April 2012. (Docket Nos. 12, 17 (motion and amended motion).) Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on May 24, 2012. (Docket No. 24.) The Amended Complaint eliminates ABT Building Products Corporation as a defendant, in recognition of the fact that this entity is a wholly owned subsidiary of and indistinct from Defendant Louisiana-Pacific Corporation. (See Pi’s Mem of Law in Opp’n at 2.) No separate cause of action for punitive damages appears in the Amended Complaint, although Plaintiff still seeks such relief as a part of its requested damages. Defendant thereafter moved to dismiss all causes of action in the [362]*362Amended Complaint except for the breach of express warranty claim.2 (Docket No. 25.)

III. DISCUSSION

In considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), a court must accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true and make all reasonable inferences in a plaintiffs’ favor. ATSI Commc’ns, Inc. v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 493 F.3d 87, 98 (2d Cir.2007). In order to survive such a motion, a complaint must “contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007); ATSI Commc’ns, Inc., 493 F.3d at 98. This assumption of truth applies only to factual allegations and is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

Further, where a plaintiff timely amends his complaint as a matter of course while a motion to dismiss is pending, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a)(1)(B), a court may either deny the motion as moot or consider it in light of the amended pleading. Roller Bearing Co. of America, Inc. v. American Software, Inc., 570 F.Supp.2d 376, 384 (D.Conn.2008). Here, however, Plaintiffs Amended Complaint was filed more than 21 days after Defendant’s Amended Motion to Dismiss was filed. Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a)(1)(B) (a party may file an amended pleading as of right within 21 days after service of either a responsive pleading or service of a motion under Rule 12(b), (e), or (f)); see generally United States ex rel. Mathews v. HealthSouth Corp., 332 F.3d 293, 296 (5th Cir.2003) (“failure to obtain leave results in an amended [pleading] having no legal effect”); Gaumont v. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2 F.R.D. 45, 46 (S.D.N.Y.1941) (same); but see Little v. Nat’l Broad. Co., Inc., 210 F.Supp.2d 330, 372 (S.D.N.Y.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cato v. Dietschler
W.D. New York, 2025
Hobish v. AXA Equit. Life Ins. Co.
2025 NY Slip Op 00183 (New York Court of Appeals, 2025)
Citibank, N.A. v. Friedman
E.D. New York, 2024
Kyszenia v. Ricoh USA, Inc.
E.D. New York, 2022
Nichols v. Livingston County
W.D. New York, 2019
Donnenfeld v. Petro, Inc.
333 F. Supp. 3d 208 (E.D. New York, 2018)
Plavin v. Grp. Health Inc.
323 F. Supp. 3d 684 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 2018)
Bueno v. LR Credit 18, LLC
269 F. Supp. 3d 16 (E.D. New York, 2017)
Belfiore v. Procter & Gamble Co.
311 F.R.D. 29 (E.D. New York, 2015)
Almonte v. Averna Vision & Robotics, Inc.
128 F. Supp. 3d 729 (W.D. New York, 2015)
Marshall v. Hyundai Motor America
51 F. Supp. 3d 451 (S.D. New York, 2014)
In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation
29 F. Supp. 3d 982 (E.D. Michigan, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
916 F. Supp. 2d 357, 79 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 462, 2013 WL 55698, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183342, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bristol-village-inc-v-louisiana-pacific-corp-nywd-2013.