Butler Foods, Inc. v. Trailer Marine Transport Corp.

680 F. Supp. 472, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1928, 1988 WL 19555
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedFebruary 11, 1988
DocketCiv. No. 87-0014 GG
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 680 F. Supp. 472 (Butler Foods, Inc. v. Trailer Marine Transport Corp.) 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
Butler Foods, Inc. v. Trailer Marine Transport Corp., 680 F. Supp. 472, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1928, 1988 WL 19555 (prd 1988).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER'

GIERBOLINI, District Judge.

Plaintiff brought this action against the carrier, Trailer Marine Transport Corporation (TMT), and the consignee, Packers Provision Company of Puerto Rico, Inc. (Packers), for damage to a shipment of pork lard. The complaint was originally filed in the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part and was removed to this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441. Jurisdiction is invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1337.

Co-defendant TMT has filed a motion, accompanied by two sworn statements and other supporting documents, requesting the entry of summary judgment in itk favor. Plaintiff has filed an opposition accompanied by a sworn statement, and defendant has filed a reply thereto.

Although Rule 56 has not been recently amended, the Supreme Court, in several 1986 cases to be discussed herein, has developed a more liberal approach toward the granting of motions for summary judgment in appropriate cases, even in situations where summary judgment had been discouraged in the past. This trend toward granting summary judgment can be perceived by the language used by the Supreme Court in Celotex v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986), as follows:

Summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed “to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.”

Id. at 327, 106 S.Ct. at 2555 (quoting Fed. R.Civ.P. 1).

Rule 56 should be read not just to protect nonmovants with real claims but also to advance the rights of movants to dispose of claims without a sufficient basis. Id. at 327, 106 S.Ct. at 2555. This balancing of interests and favoring of grants constitutes a definite change in direction by the Supreme Court encouraging freer use of the summary judgment mechanism. See Childress, New Era For Summary Judgments, 116 F.R.D. 183 (1987).

Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment should be entered, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Catrett, supra. A motion for summary judgment will be granted only “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Rule 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); General Office Products v. A.M. Capen’s Sons, Inc., 780 F.2d 1077 (1st Cir.1986). However, the mere existence of an alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.

Material facts are those which might affect the outcome of a suit under the governing law, while genuine disputes are those in which the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for [474]*474the nonmovant. Anderson, supra, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. The judge’s function is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, but rather to determine if a genuine issue for trial exists. There is no genuine issue for trial unless there is sufficient evidence favorable to the nonmovant for a jury to return a verdict for that party. Anderson, supra, 106 S.Ct. at 2511; First National Bank of Arizona v. Cities Service Co., 391 U.S. 253, 288-289, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 1592, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968); Adickes v. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 157, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1608, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). Therefore, summary judgment may be granted if the nonmovant’s evidence is merely colorable, Dombrowski v. Eastland, 387 U.S. 82, 87 S.Ct. 1425, 18 L.Ed.2d 577 (1967) (per curiam), or is not significantly probative, Cities Service, supra, 391 U.S. at 290, 88 S.Ct. at 1593.

Applying this standard, and upon a close examination of the record, we find that the following facts are uncontested:

1) Plaintiff, Butler Foods, Inc., entered into a contract with TMT for ocean transportation of goods from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2) On May 22,1986, plaintiff delivered to TMT container No. LCRZ-20215 to be transported to Puerto Rico subject to the provisions of the bill of lading contract.

3) The shipper did not request delivery by TMT on arrival in San Juan but instead provided the telephone number of a notifying party — the consignee.

4) The information provided by plaintiff was incorporated in a freight waybill prepared by TMT. On the waybill which noted the same notifying telephone, the “Domestic Routing” box indicated “No Delivery” by TMT. The cargo was loaded on board the barge on May 23, 1986.

5) On May 29, 1986, the barge FORTALEZA arrived in San Juan and discharge operations commenced at 0800 hours.

6) On May 30,1986, the consignee (Packers) was duly notified by telephone of the cargo’s arrival by a TMT employee. A Mr. Cobian was notified at the consignee’s office.

7)Notwithstanding this notification, the consignee did not pick the cargo until July 1, 1986, at which time the cargo was already spoiled.

In its opposition to the present motion and in its counter-motion for summary judgment, plaintiff argues that the consignee was not notified of the cargo’s arrival.1 In support of its contention, plaintiff has submitted a sworn statement of Mr. Lawrence Lipoff, President of Butler Foods, Inc., asserting that he spoke by telephone to an employee of TMT Customer Service who assured him that the container would be delivered properly. Reference is also made to the sworn statements of Mr. Rubén Carbonell and Mr. Orlando Cobian, which were submitted as exhibits in Packers’ opposition to the present motion. The sworn statement of Mr. Carbonell, Servicing Manager of Packers, is to the effect that Mr. Leslie Seda, an employee of said company, is in charge of the purchase of merchandise from stateside suppliers and handles the commercial transactions with Butler. He also asserts that Mr.

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680 F. Supp. 472, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1928, 1988 WL 19555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/butler-foods-inc-v-trailer-marine-transport-corp-prd-1988.