Dodson Livestock Co. v. United States

42 Fed. Cl. 455, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 303, 1998 WL 905214
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedDecember 23, 1998
DocketNo. 95-771C
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 42 Fed. Cl. 455 (Dodson Livestock Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dodson Livestock Co. v. United States, 42 Fed. Cl. 455, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 303, 1998 WL 905214 (uscfc 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

The above-captioned case comes before the court on the defendant’s motion for partial dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Specifically, the defendant has moved to dismiss the claim regarding seventeen of the eighteen sheep that are at issue in this ease. The plaintiff, Dodson Livestock Company (Dodson Livestock), filed a complaint for breach of contract in this court alleging that the United States, acting through the United States Department of Agriculture, Meat and Animal Research Center (MARC), breached representations that eighteen sheep Dodson Livestock purchased at a MARC auction would be “sound, healthy, guaranteed breeders.” Dodson Livestock claims that at some time prior to the sale, despite these alleged warranties, the sheep became infected with paratuberculosis. Plaintiff argues that this incurable disease, once introduced into its existing flock, forced Dodson Livestock to sell its entire Texel flock for slaughter, along with its entire cashmere goat herd, which was also exposed to the disease. Dodson Livestock concludes that this breach frustrated the company’s ability to become the leading Texel sheep breeder in the United States, and caused damages of $57,628,202.00 in lost profits.

According to the government, the initial claim that was submitted to the contracting officer concerned only one of the eighteen sheep that Dodson Livestock purchased. The government maintains that this court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to entertain “so much of plaintiffs complaint as may be construed to assert a cause of action other than for breach of warranty in the sale of the one ram [identified as #806173].” Moreover, while Dodson Livestock states that the claim arises from the sale of Texel sheep which were infected with paratubercu-losis, defendant contends that the plaintiff fails to show that any sheep other than the one mentioned in the claim were infected with paratuberculosis. Thus, according to the government, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(2) (1994) and 41 U.S.C. § 605(a) (1994), the plaintiff is precluded from including damages related to the seventeen sheep, or to any additional sheep that were not specifically mentioned in the claim to the contracting officer, because the contracting officer had no occasion to rule on claims related to any sheep other than sheep # 806173, which was specifically alleged to be diseased in the original claim.

The government further argues that it is impossible to bring the suit for the breach of one contract that included all eighteen sheep because each item purchased at an auction constitutes a separate contract of sale, regardless of whether the items were included on one bill of sale and paid for with one check, as in this case. Finally, the government maintains that Dodson Livestock’s breach of contract claim in this court is substantially different than the claim that was submitted to the contracting officer. The government argues that the genesis of plaintiffs claim to the contracting officer was a breach of implied and express warranties, whereas now the plaintiff also has added a claim based on a theory of breach of an [457]*457alleged duty on the part of the government to disclose the test results indicating that the sheep may have had paratuberculosis.

The plaintiff responds that the initial claim to the contracting officer related to all eighteen sheep, and that, therefore, this court has subject matter jurisdiction over the entire claim. Dodson Livestock contends that the language of the claim submitted to the contracting officer clearly indicates that the complaint refers to all of the sheep that the company purchased. Plaintiff further argues that the statement in the contracting officer’s final decision that this claim arose “out of a sales contract for Texel sheep” shows that the contracting officer also understood the claim for damages to relate to all eighteen sheep and the herd, rather than just the one sheep that was specifically mentioned in the claim.

FACTS

The plaintiff, Dodson Livestock Company (Dodson Livestock), is a Missouri corporation specializing in the production of sheep and goats. Prior to August, 1992, Dodson had a thriving cashmere goat business and had gained a reputation as a breeder of quality purebred sheep and goats. In the early part of 1992, plaintiff began to formulate plans to become a leader in the breeding of Texel sheep. Dodson Livestock intended to develop a purebred Texel flock for sale to other breeders of both purebred and commercial flocks.

As a result of federal import restrictions, the only source of Texel sheep in the United States in 1992 was the United States Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) in Clay Center, Nebraska. On July 8, 1992, the MARC published a flyer advertising the U.S. MARC Annual Surplus Breeding Sheep Sale auction to be held on August 14, 1992. The flyer stated: “[ejnclosed is performance or pedigree information for sale rams and Texel ewes. Full performance information will be available on all the sale ewes the day of the sale. All animals sold will be sound, healthy, guaranteed breeders.”

Potential buyers, including Mr. Dennis Dodson, the President of Dodson Livestock, were provided with a sales catalog when they registered for the auction. Copies of the catalog also were distributed on site for the buyers’ convenience. The catalog contained detailed information for the individual sheep, such as identification number, date of birth, weight, and fertility rate. It also included a “REMARKS” section setting out general sheep purchasing details, such as acceptable forms of payment, arrangement of subsequent transportation, and the health condition of the sheep at the time of auction. The following paragraph was found under the heading “Condition and Health” in the “REMARKS” section of the catalog:

All mature animals were recently treated for internal and external parasites, foot trimmed, and foot bathed. The MARC flocks harbor some level of Paratuberculo-sis (Johne’s) and Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (OPP) infections. Based on the availability of reliable tests, or observations, efforts have been made to screen sale animals against these and other maladies.

In addition, an auction supervisor read the “General” and “Condition and Health” sections of the catalog verbatim to the buyers prior to beginning the sale. Then, after announcing which sheep had been removed due to illness, the supervisor began the auction.1

The parties have stipulated that Dennis Dodson received the catalog the night before the auction, but that he did not read the REMARKS section.2 At the auction, Dodson Livestock purchased eighteen purebred Tex-el sheep, including fifteen ewes and three rams. Dodson Livestock paid $83,650.00 for the sheep, including $15,500.00 for one ram identified as # 806173.

[458]*458Approximately a year later, in September of 1993, ram #806173 began to display symptoms of an overall weakened condition that included weight loss, lack of appetite, and diarrhea. A preliminary examination, conducted at the Department of Clinical Sciences, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at Kansas State University, indicated that the ram suffered from paratubereulosis.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Affiliated Construction Group, Inc. v. United States
115 Fed. Cl. 607 (Federal Claims, 2014)
K-Con Building Systems, Inc. v. United States
107 Fed. Cl. 571 (Federal Claims, 2012)
AAB Joint Venture v. United States
68 Fed. Cl. 363 (Federal Claims, 2005)
Dodson Livestock Co. v. United States
30 F. App'x 989 (Federal Circuit, 2002)
Dodson Livestock Co. v. United States
48 Fed. Cl. 551 (Federal Claims, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 Fed. Cl. 455, 1998 U.S. Claims LEXIS 303, 1998 WL 905214, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dodson-livestock-co-v-united-states-uscfc-1998.