Friedman's Express, Inc. v. Dial Corp. (In re Friedman's Express, Inc.)

185 B.R. 708, 32 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 396, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1225
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 30, 1995
DocketBankruptcy No. 93-21066T; Adv. No. 95-2193
StatusPublished

This text of 185 B.R. 708 (Friedman's Express, Inc. v. Dial Corp. (In re Friedman's Express, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Friedman's Express, Inc. v. Dial Corp. (In re Friedman's Express, Inc.), 185 B.R. 708, 32 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 396, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1225 (Pa. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION

THOMAS M. TWARDOWSKI, Bankruptcy Judge.

Presently before the court are two motions filed by defendant, The Dial Corporation (“defendant”). In the first motion, filed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,1 defendant asserts that the complaint should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In the second motion, defendant requests referral of plaintiffs interstate claims to the Interstate Commerce Commission (“ICC”) for determination under the doctrine of “primary jurisdiction.”

JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

The Court has jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter of this proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157, 1384.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following are the relevant facts.

On April 6, 1993, plaintiff filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (“Code”), 11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1330, in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Prior to this date, plaintiff operated as a motor common carrier in both interstate and intrastate commerce. Plaintiff has continued in possession of its assets and management of its business as a debtor-in-possession pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 1107(a) and 1108.

From April of 1990 through March of 1993, defendant tendered goods to plaintiff for transportation. In July of 1993, plaintiff engaged the services of Trans-Allied Audit Company (“Trans-Allied”) to conduct an audit of plaintiffs freight bills to determine whether they had been properly rated according to the tariffs on file with the ICC and various state regulatory agencies. As a result of this audit, it was determined that defendant allegedly owed plaintiff $33,677.14 in freight undercharges. Trans-Allied billed defendant for this amount and made subsequent demands for payment. Upon defendant’s refusal to tender payment, plaintiff filed this complaint seeking to recover the difference between the amount defendant allegedly should have paid for the transport of freight according to the tariffs on file with the ICC and the various state regulatory agencies (the “filed rate”) and the amount defendant actually paid plaintiff (the “negotiated rate”).

DISCUSSION

We first consider defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint since a decision granting this motion would eliminate the need to decide defendant’s motion for referral to the ICC. We begin by noting that dismissal of a complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim is proper only when “it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). In making this determination, the court must deem all material allegations in the complaint to be true and view them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Hamilton Bank v. Fidelity Elec. Co., Inc. (In re Fidelity Elec. Co., Inc.), 19 B.R. 531, 532 (Bankr.E.D.Pa.1982).

As stated earlier, plaintiff’s complaint seeks to recover freight undercharges. Gen[710]*710erally, freight undercharges are recoverable under the filed rate doctrine2 so long as the rate sought is reasonable. Maislin Indus., U.S., Inc. v. Primary Steel, Inc., 497 U.S. 116, 110 S.Ct. 2759, 111 L.Ed.2d 94 (1990). Defendant does not dispute the validity of the filed rate doctrine in its motion to dismiss, but instead argues that plaintiffs complaint fails to state a claim under this doctrine because insufficient facts are alleged. To support this argument, defendant cites a decision rendered by the ICC in Vertex Corp., 9 I.C.C.2d 688, 691 (1993), modified, 10 I.C.C.2d 367 (1994) and asserts that plaintiffs complaint fails to state a claim because it does not allege: “(a) when the shipments moved; (b) what commodities were involved; (c) the origins and destinations of the shipments; (d) what the original rates were; and (e) what the sought rates are.” Defendant’s Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss, p. 3, quoting Vertex, 9 I.C.C.2d at 691. Defendant contends that without this information, it is unable to determine which tariffs apply to the various claims and that, therefore, the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For the reasons that follow, we disagree and conclude that defendant’s reliance upon Vertex is misplaced.

To explain, in Vertex, the ICC was not confronted with an attack on the validity of a freight undercharge complaint under Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). In fact, no Rule 12(b)(6) motion had been filed in the Vertex case. Rather, Vertex dealt with the type and amount of evidence a carrier must present to establish a prima facie freight undercharge claim and to enable the ICC to render a decision. As stated by the ICC in Vertex, 10 1.C.C.2d 367, -, 1994 WL 657865, at *5: “[w]e need certain basic information before we can determine that the tariff an undercharge claimant relies upon applies to the shipments at issue.” Certainly, at the decision making stage of the litigation, it is imperative that a plaintiff produce sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case and to enable a court or the ICC to render a decision or face dismissal of its claim. However, in the context of a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the type of detail sought by defendant is not essential to the validity of the complaint and therefore, its absence does not render the complaint defective and subject to attack under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).

Moreover, we find that plaintiffs complaint adequately places defendant on notice as to the nature of the claim asserted therein. Accordingly, we find that the complaint complies with Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a) which requires “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Defendant can take advantage of the federal discovery rules enumerated in Fed.R.Civ.P. 26 through 37,3 to acquire the detail it seeks. We further note that sinee we are granting defendant’s motion to refer this case to the ICC, much, if not all, of the detail sought by defendant will have to be provided by plaintiff when the case is presented to the ICC. See Vertex, 10 I.C.C.2d 367, -, 1994 WL 657865, at *1.

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Bluebook (online)
185 B.R. 708, 32 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 396, 1995 Bankr. LEXIS 1225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/friedmans-express-inc-v-dial-corp-in-re-friedmans-express-inc-paeb-1995.