Cold Guard Corp. v. Republic Aluminum Co.

38 F.R.D. 190, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9502, 1965 Trade Cas. (CCH) 71,469
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 26, 1965
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 38 F.R.D. 190 (Cold Guard Corp. v. Republic Aluminum Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cold Guard Corp. v. Republic Aluminum Co., 38 F.R.D. 190, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9502, 1965 Trade Cas. (CCH) 71,469 (S.D.N.Y. 1965).

Opinion

TENNEY, District Judge.

The defendant moves herein (1) to dismiss the complaint on the ground that it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and (2) in the alternative for a more definite statement in six separate respects, pursuant to Rule 12(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Plaintiff is suing for treble damages alleged to have resulted from a violation of Section 2 of the Robinson-Pat-man Act, 15 U.S.C. § 13. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff now is and at all the times set forth in the complaint “has been engaged in the business of selling, installing and erecting aluminum [191]*191windows and screens for industrial, commercial and household use” (Complaint, ,¶ Fourth); that defendant at all the times set forth in the complaint “has been engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling aluminum windows and screens at wholesale, for industrial, commercial and household use, and sells the said products in various States of the United States, in interstate and intrastate commerce” (Complaint, ¶ Fifth); that defendant has unlawfully discriminated via lower prices, allowances, discounts and credits in the sale of aluminum windows and screens of like grades, and quality, to other purchasers similarly situated to plaintiff, for resale in the States of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other States in the United States; and that said discrimination has “substantially lessened competition and tended to injure, destroy and prevent competition between the plaintiff and other customers of the defendant, receiving the benefits of such discrimination” (Complaint, ¶ Seventh).

Plaintiff further alleges that as a result of defendant’s practices it was “necessary to sell and plaintiff did sell a large part of the aforesaid aluminum windows and screens at lower prices than it otherwise would have done in order to compete with defendant’s favored customers.” (Complaint, ¶ Ninth.)

The complaint then states that as a result of defendant’s conduct “it has been deprived of the earnings and profits it would have earned and received except for defendant’s unlawful practices * * * ” (Complaint, ¶ Tenth.)

The General Rules for Pleading set forth in Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide that: “A Pleading which sets forth a claim for relief * * *, shall contain (1) a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which the court’s jurisdiction depends * * *, (2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and (3) a demand for judgment for the relief to which he deems himself entitled. Relief in the alternative or of several different types may be demanded.”

“In Conley v. Gibson [355 U.S. 41, 47-48, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)], the Supreme Court emphasized the proper role of pleadings in this manner:

‘ * * * the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not require a claimant to set out in detail the facts upon which he bases his claim. To the contrary, all the Rules require is “a short and plain statement of the claim” that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff’s claim is and the grounds upon which it rests. The illustrative forms appended to the Rules plainly demonstrate this. Such simplified “notice pleading” is made possible by the liberal opportunity for discovery and the other pretrial procedures established by the Rules to disclose more precisely the basis of both claim and defense and to define more narrowly the disputed facts and issues.’ ”

2 Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 8.02 at 1611 (2d ed. 1964).

In David v. Sinclair Ref. Co., 25 F.R.D. 190, 191-92 (S.D.N.Y.1960), which involved a suit similar to the one at bar, Judge Bicks, in denying a motion to dismiss, stated:

“The Federal Rules were adopted with a view to simplifying the office of a pleading and avoiding lengthy pretrial disputes and delays, but, as one Court recently stated, ‘even after a score of years of experience it is still doubtful just how much a complaint must state to avoid dismissal.’ Rosen v. Texas Co., D.C.S.D.N.Y.1958, 161 F.Supp. 55, 57. The rule in this Circuit, however, is that actions for treble damages, the so-called ‘big cases’, require no more particularized pleading than any other action. Niagara of Buffalo, Inc. v. Niagara Mfg. & Distributing Corp., 2 Cir., 1958, 262 F.2d 106; New Home Appliance Center Inc. v. Thompson, supra, [10 Cir.,] 250 F.2d [881] at page 883; Nagler v. Admiral [192]*192Corp., supra, [2 Cir.,] 248 F.2d [319] at page 323; Package Closure Corp. v. Sealright Co., 2 Cir., 1944, 141 F.2d 972, 979. What is required by Rule 8(a), F. R.Civ.Proc., 28 U.S.C., is a ‘short and plain statement of the claim showing the pleader is entitled to relief.’ ”

The thrust of defendant’s motion to dismiss is based on the following:

(1) that plaintiff has failed to allege ultimate facts demonstrating that his cause of action lies within Section 2 of the Clayton Act;

(2) that plaintiff has failed to allege ultimate facts which show — (a) that the same seller made at least two specific contemporaneous sales of goods of like grade and quality to different purchasers; (b) that at least one of these sales was in interstate commerce; (c) that the alleged price discrimination affected the public interest in that such discriminatory prices tended to lessen competition or create a monopoly; (d) that plaintiff was in competition with the particular “favored dealers”, and (e) that as a result of the alleged illegal price discrimination plaintiff sustained injury;

(3) that plaintiff’s allegations concerning the interstate character of defendant’s business and sales incident thereto are conclusory statements and insufficient to confer jurisdiction on this Court;

(4) that the complaint is utterly devoid of any allegations concerning specific sales;

(5) that plaintiff has failed to allege facts showing that the effect of the alleged discrimination may be to lessen competition;

(6) that there has been a failure to detail how or to what extent an alleged difference in price injured, destroyed or prevented competition between plaintiff’s business and that of any or all of the favored dealers;

(7) that plaintiff has not set forth factual allegations that demonstrate the prejudicial nature of defendant’s conduct to the public good as distinct from a purely personal or private wrong;

(8) that plaintiff has not illustrated prejudice to public good nor specific injury to himself arising out of the proscribed acts of the defendant; and

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38 F.R.D. 190, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9502, 1965 Trade Cas. (CCH) 71,469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cold-guard-corp-v-republic-aluminum-co-nysd-1965.