Commonwealth v. Homart Development Co.

6 Mass. L. Rptr. 517
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1997
DocketNo. 952280B
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 517 (Commonwealth v. Homart Development Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Homart Development Co., 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 517 (Mass. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Doerfer, J.

INTRODUCTION

The present action arises out of the dumping of construction debris containing vinyl asbestos tile at [518]*518Ternberry Estates, a residential development in Shrewsbury, in violation of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Homart Development Corporation, which generated the debris in the course of demolishing and redeveloping the Natick Mall, entered into a Consent Judgment with the Commonwealth and paid a $200,000 civil penalty. Homart now seeks indemnification and/or contribution in that amount plus the amount expended to clean up the property, as well as damages for an alleged violation of Chapter 93A, from third-party defendant Ternberry Development Corporation, the developer ofTernberry Estates. This matter is before the court on Ternberry Development Corporation’s motion to dismiss the second amended third-party complaint pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). For the reasons discussed below, Ternberry’s motion to dismiss is ALLOWED as to Count XIX and Count XXI but DENIED as to Count XX. With respect to Count XXII, the motion is ALLOWED in part and DENIED in part.

BACKGROUND

The Commonwealth commenced this action in April of 1995 against Homart Development Co. (Homart) and its demolition contractors, Walsh Brothers (Walsh) and Gabe & Sons, Inc. (G&S) seeking civil penalties for violations of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and Clean Air Act.3 The alleged violations of the Solid Waste Disposal Act arose from the illegal dumping of asbestos-laced construction debris at Temberiy Estates, a residential development in Shrewsbury developed by Ternberry Development Corporation (Ternberry). Homart generated the debris in the course of demolishing and redeveloping the Natick Mall. In November of 1993, either Ternberry or its general contractor purchased the asbestos-laced debris from Konan Trucking (Konan), a subcontractor working on the Natick Mall project. Konan transported the debris to Ternberry Estates, where it was crushed and used as landfill at the site of the future residential development.

Upon learning that asbestos-laced debris from the Natick Mall had been disposed of at Ternberry Estates, Homart voluntarily arranged for the debris to be removed from the Shrewsbury site and properly disposed of at its own cost. Homart then filed a third-party complaint against numerous parties, including Ternberry, to recover the cost of cleaning up Ternberry Estates as well as any fines which it might incur as a result of violations of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Homart alleged five claims against Ternberry: negligence in Count XVII, violation of Chapter 93A in Count XIX, indemnification in Count XX, contribution under Chapter 23IB in Count XX3, and contribution under Chapter 2IE in Count XXII. In September of 1995, Ternberry moved to dismiss all five counts: while this motion was pending, however, Homart entered into a Consent Judgment with the Commonwealth, dated January 18, 1996, in which it agreed to pay a civil penalty of $200,000 in full and final settlement of all the Commonwealth’s allegations arising out of the disposal of the Natick Mall debris at Ternberry Estates. Homart paid the full amount of the penalty on February 1, 1996.

Thereafter, in a Memorandum of Decision and Order dated March 18, 1996, this Court (Botsford, J.) dismissed Homart’s negligence claim against Ternberry, but granted Homart leave to amend its contribution and indemnification claims against Ternberry to reflect its settlement with the Commonwealth, and to amend its Chapter 93A claim to more clearly present the factual basis for such a claim. Ternberry now moves the court to dismiss the second amended third-party complaint on the ground that Homart cannot recover under Chapter 93A as a matter of law because the requisite business or transactional relationship is lacking. Ternberry further contends that Homart fails to state a claim for contribution under Chapter 23IB because Homart and Ternberry are not joint tortfeasors with respect to the Commonwealth, given that the Commonwealth recovered only a civil penalty and not compensation for personal or property damage from Homart. In addition, Ternberry contends that Homart fails to state a common law claim for indemnification because Homart’s liability was not derivative or vicarious, Homart was not wholly and substantially without fault, and Homart does not allege a substantially differing degree of fault between itself and Ternberry. Finally, Ternberry contends that Homart cannot recover civil penalties under Chapter 21E as a matter of law.

For the purposes of the present motion to dismiss, the following allegations in Homart’s second amended third-party complaint are accepted as true. In connection with the demolition and redevelopment of the Natick Mall, Homart contracted with third-party defendant Konan Trucking, Inc. (Konan) to arrange for the transport of the demolition debris to a legal disposal site. In violation of this contractual obligation, Konan arranged with third-party defendant Caruso Trucking for more than eighty truckloads of asbestos-laced debris to be dumped at Ternberry Estates. Ternberry Development Corporation, as owner and operator of Ternberry Estates, knowingly and intentionally purchased this debris, at a cost less expensive than legal fill material, crushed it and then distributed around homes at the site of its residential development. Ternberry thus benefitted financially from the use of the asbestos-laced debris while knowing that such use would subject the generator of the debris, Homart, to legal liability.

DISCUSSION

When the court considers a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, all well-plead allegations in the complaint are to be taken as true, and the plaintiff is entitled to all favorable inferences to be drawn therefrom. Nader v. [519]*519Citron, 372 Mass. 96, 98 (1977); General Motors Acceptance Corp. v. Abington Casualty Insurance Co., 413 Mass. 583, 584 (1992). A Rule 12(b)(6) motion should not be allowed unless it is shown beyond doubt that the plaintiff is entitled to no relief under any state of facts which could be proved in support of the claim. Spinner v. Nutt, 417 Mass. 549, 550 (1994); Romano v. Sacknoff, 4 Mass.App.Ct. 862, 862 (1976).

I. Count XIX; Violation of Chapter 93A

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A, §11 provides a cause of action to:

[a]ny person who engages in the conduct of any trade or commerce and who suffers any loss of money or property, real or personal, as a result of the use or employment by another person who engages in any trade or commerce of an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive practice . . . G.L.c. 93A, §11 (19 — ).

Homart asserts that this statute does not require a business relationship between the parties, so long as there is a causal connection between the defendant’s conduct and the damage to the plaintiff. Tembeny contends, however, that Chapter 93A does not regulate conduct in the absence of a business relationship between the parties.

It is well established that parties need not be in contractual privity in order for their actions to come within the regulatory ambit of G.L.c. 93A, §2. Chestnut Hill Development Corp. v. Otis Elevator Co., 653 F.Supp. 927, 933 (D.Mass. 1987). Privily is not required to maintain a non-warranty based action under c. 93A, so long as the parties are engaged in more than a minor or insignificant business relationship.

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Bluebook (online)
6 Mass. L. Rptr. 517, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-homart-development-co-masssuperct-1997.