Condor America, Inc. v. American Power Development, Inc.

128 F.R.D. 229, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13862, 1989 WL 141397
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedNovember 17, 1989
DocketCiv. No. C-1-89-417
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 128 F.R.D. 229 (Condor America, Inc. v. American Power Development, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Condor America, Inc. v. American Power Development, Inc., 128 F.R.D. 229, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13862, 1989 WL 141397 (S.D. Ohio 1989).

Opinion

ORDER

CARL B. RUBIN, Chief Judge.

In June, 1989, Condor America, Inc. (Condor), filed a complaint against American Power Development, Inc., (APD) and several individual persons alleging several counts of breach of contract, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation (doc. no. 1). APD filed an answer and included a counterclaim styled “RICO violation” (doc. no. 1). Although labeled in totality, “RICO violation”, the counterclaim actually raises five counts of which only counts one and two pertain to RICO; counts three and four refer to a theory of lender liability styled “Dominion and Control”; and count five is a breach of contract action.

On August 15, Condor filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaim (doc. nos. 4 & 11) and APD responded (doc. no. 9). This matter is now before the Court.

Both Condor and APD are companies that specialize in energy saving services and equipment and in the supplying of gas and electricity. Condor also finances energy saving programs. In 1987, Condor and APD entered into a series of “positive cash flow leases,” whereby Condor would provide financing for several large energy savings projects of APD in the Cincinnati area. Condor alleges that APD claims to have developed a special computer software program that made these projects possible. However, Condor also alleges that APD’s software was never functional and as a result the projects did not function properly, and through time, APD has defaulted on its payments of the leases. This is the origin of the original complaint.

APD, in its counterclaim, seems to allege that Condor, along with several non-joined persons, conspired to entice APD into these contracts only for the purpose of stealing the computer technology and forcing APD out of business. This interpretation only arises as a result of APD’s responsive motion and not upon the face of the counterclaim itself. The recently filed RICO state[231]*231ment (doc. no. 10) adds little to clarify this problem.

For clarity, this Court will regroup the counterclaim into three parts: the RICO claim, the lender liability theory and the breach of contract claim.

I. RICO

Although the whole of the counterclaim is styled as a “RICO ’violation” under 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq., only counts one and two actually meet this discription. Neither lender liability nor breach of contract fall under the definition of “racketeering activity” in 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1). Condor attacks the RICO allegation under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), as failing to state a claim, as well as under Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b) for failing to allege fraud with specificity. Rule 12(b)(6) examines whether a cognizable claim has been pleaded in the complaint. Rule 8(a) sets forth the basic federal pleading requirement that a pleading “shall contain ... a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Westlake v. Lucas, 537 F.2d 857, 858 (6th Cir.1976). The objective of Rule 8(a)(2) is to provide the defendant with “fair notice of what plaintiff’s claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 103, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). The familiar standard enunciated in Jones v. Sherrill, 827 F.2d 1102, 1103 (6th Cir.1987) states:

In reviewing a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court must accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint. Windsor v. The Tennessean, 719 F.2d 155, 158 (6th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 826 [105 S.Ct. 105, 83 L.Ed.2d 50] (1984). The motion to dismiss must be denied unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of the claim which would entitle them to relief. Id. at 158; Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 [78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80] (1957).

Although this standard for Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal is quite liberal, more than bare assertions of legal conclusions are ordinarily required to satisfy federal notice pleading requirements. 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 1357 at 596 (1969) [emphasis added]. “In practice, a complaint must contain either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material elements to sustain a recovery under some viable legal theory.” Car Carriers, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 745 F.2d 1101, 1106 (7th Cir.1984) (quoting In Re: Plywood Antitrust Litigation, 655 F.2d 627, 641 (5th Cir.1981), cert. dismissed, 462 U.S. 1125, 103 S.Ct. 3100, 77 L.Ed.2d 1358 (1983)), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1054, 105 S.Ct. 1758, 84 L.Ed.2d 821 (1985); see also, Sutliff, Inc. v. Donovan Cos., 727 F.2d 648, 654 (7th Cir.1984); 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 1216 at 121-23 (1969). When scrutinizing the complaint, all well-pleaded facts are construed liberally in favor of the party opposing the motion. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently stated:

“[W]e are not holding the pleader to an impossibly high standard; we recognize the policies behind Rule 8 and the concept of notice pleading. A plaintiff will not be thrown out of court for failing to plead facts in support of every arcane element of his claim. But when a complaint omits facts that, if they existed, would clearly dominate the case, it seems fair to assume that those facts do not exist.”

Scheid v. Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, Inc. 859 F.2d 434 (6th Cir.1988); McGregor v. Industrial Excess Landfill, Inc., 856 F.2d 39 (6th Cir.1988), quoting, O’Brian v. DiGrazia, 544 F.2d 543, 546 n. 3 (1st Cir.1976).

Rule 9(b) provides that:

In all averments of fraud or mistake, the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be stated with particularity. Malice, intent, knowledge and other condition of mind of a person may be averred generally.

Rule 9(b) must also be read in conjunction with Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a). Roger v.

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Bluebook (online)
128 F.R.D. 229, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13862, 1989 WL 141397, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/condor-america-inc-v-american-power-development-inc-ohsd-1989.