Burrowes Corp. v. United States

133 Ct. Cl. 558, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 47, 1956 WL 8357
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJanuary 31, 1956
DocketNo. 49401
StatusPublished

This text of 133 Ct. Cl. 558 (Burrowes Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burrowes Corp. v. United States, 133 Ct. Cl. 558, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 47, 1956 WL 8357 (cc 1956).

Opinion

JoNes, Chief Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a Lucas Act case.1 According to the terms of the act authority was granted to settle equitable claims arising out of contracts performed between September 16,1940, and August 19, 1945. In order to have the benefit of the act it was made necessary that the claimant fulfill certain procedural and other requirements, including a showing that it had sustained a net loss on all of the contracts which it had with the Government during the period in question.

The defendant makes no issue as to the fulfillment of any other conditions, but it alleges that plaintiff completely failed to show a net loss on the various contracts which it performed with the Government during the statutory period.

The one issue, therefore, is whether the plaintiff sustained an over-all net loss on such contracts.

The commissioner who personally conducted the trial has found that the evidence fails to show that plaintiff sustained a net loss during the period in question. The findings are clearly stated, are sustained by the record, and we have adopted them without substantial change as the findings of the court.

During the statutory period plaintiff performed work either as a contractor or subcontractor or furnished supplies and services to the United States on more than 20 contracts with various agencies of the Government.

Among these contracts with the defendant were two with the War Department for the manufacture of ammunition [560]*560boxes. For convenience these will be referred to as contracts Nos. 1 and 2.

Contract No. 1 was dated February 10,1943. By its terms plaintiff was to furnish and deliver 500,000 ammunition boxes for the stipulated price of $452,226.67. By the terms of contract No. 2, dated May 9,1944, plaintiff agreed to furnish and deliver 411,000 ammunition boxes for a stipulated price of $381,303.48.

Plaintiff made appropriate written requests for relief under the War Powers Act, known as the Lucas Act, to which reference has been made.

As is set out in finding 10 plaintiff alleges a net operating loss for the years 1943-45 combined, in connection with contracts it performed for the Government, in the sum of $122,797.21.

During the years 1943 and 1944 plaintiff manufactured and sold certain refrigerator parts to the Success Manufacturing Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the plaintiff, and rendered invoices for which it received $325,411.79. The plaintiff’s recorded costs for the manufacture of these articles was $160,969.79. The plaintiff thus actually received a profit on this contract of $164,442, which it failed to include in the detailed statement which it made in calculating its alleged net operating loss.

Its asserted reason for not including this item was that the sum of $164,442 was not a profit but only a transfer of funds to the plaintiff from its subsidiary which plaintiff effectuated by rendering to Success Manufacturing Company bills equal to double the costs of the work. However, plaintiff’s subcontract or other agreement with Success Manufacturing Company is not in evidence and plaintiff’s repudiation of a profit motive in the performance of the work indicated is not substantiated in the record. The Success Manufacturing Company was during the period a prime contractor in other contracts with the Government.

During the performance of the contract a number of the ammunition boxes were rejected by the defendant. At the time of the rejection the manufacturing operations for most of these boxes had been completed. Thus the material and labor costs that had been incurred .up to the time of rejection [561]*561were substantially the same as the labor and material costs in connection with the boxes that were accepted.

Later the plaintiff conditioned the rejected boxes and disposed of them in its civilian trade. During the years in question it thus realized the sum of $114,754.42. In its statement in respect to these rejected boxes the plaintiff included the full sales price as its costs which it credited to civilian sales.

In making its statement of losses on Government contracts it made no adjustment for the material and labor costs which had been incurred on these boxes prior to their rejection. It is not reasonable to assume that the amount of costs adopted by plaintiff represented the costs incurred by it in conditioning the rejects alone, or that the amount is over and above the costs incurred in their manufacture prior to rejection and charged in the claim as Government costs. The trial commissioner has found that the cost value of the rejects which had been charged to Government costs can be reasonably calculated in the light of the entire record as $90,100.92.

Plaintiff earnestly contends, as indicated, that the $164,442 book profit which it earned in connection with the sales to its subsidiary was merely a transfer of funds between parent and subsidiary, and should not be considered as a realized profit for the purposes of this case. If this were true then it certainly would have been necessary, in order to meet the statutory tests, that plaintiff list its gains on all Government' contracts of its subsidiary as its alter ego in order to reach plaintiff’s over-all net profit or loss. This was not done. It evidently wanted to treat its subsidiary as a separate entity. This puts it in the position of claiming that regardless of whether its subsidiary may have earned profits on Government contracts which are available for plaintiff’s use through a transfer of funds, such profits, if any, should not be taken into consideration in determining whether plaintiff had a net loss.

When the entire record is considered we find, as set out in finding 21, that plaintiff’s operations on Government contracts and subcontracts in the years 1943-45 showed a substantial profit rather than a net loss.

[562]*562The plaintiff’s petition is dismissed.

Laeamore, Judge; Maddest, Judge; Whitaker, Judge; and Littleton, Judge, concur.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The court, having considered the evidence, the briefs and argument of counsel, and the report of Commissioner William E. Day, makes findings of fact as follows:

1. The plaintiff is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Maine, having its principal place of business in Portland, Maine.

2. Between September 16,1940, and August 14,1945, plaintiff performed work, either as contractor or subcontractor, or furnished supplies or services to the United States, on upwards of 20 contracts with various agencies of the Government.

3. The plaintiff’s action, founded upon the Lucas Act (60 Stat. 902 and 62 Stat. 992), seeks to recover losses which it claims were sustained in the performance of one of such contracts (W241-OKD-2719).

A claim is also made for a price differential between the cost of mill steel and warehouse steel under another contract.

As to the Lucas Act claim, no serious contention is made by the defendant regarding fault or negligence. It is accordingly found that there was no fault or negligence by the plaintiff in the performance of the work.

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Bluebook (online)
133 Ct. Cl. 558, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 47, 1956 WL 8357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burrowes-corp-v-united-states-cc-1956.