Goudreau Corp. v. City of Springfield

1 Mass. L. Rptr. 547
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedJanuary 25, 1994
DocketNo. 93-0653B
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Mass. L. Rptr. 547 (Goudreau Corp. v. City of Springfield) 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
Goudreau Corp. v. City of Springfield, 1 Mass. L. Rptr. 547 (Mass. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

Grabau, J.

The parties to this contract action are before the court on defendants’ motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff Goudreau Corporation (Goudreau) contracted to clean a sewer pipe in defendant City of Springfield (Springfield). Goudreau alleges that its performance was thwarted by Springfield’s failure to [548]*548accurately represent the condition of the sewer. Goudreau also brings a claim against Marine & Industrial Diving, Inc. (Marine) which prepared a report of the sewer’s condition. For the following reasons Marine’s motion is allowed and Springfield’s motion is allowed in part and denied in part.

FACTS

In July, 1991, Marine provided Springfield with the report of an assessment that Marine did, in June, 1991, of a certain sewer pipe in Springfield. Marine was under contract to provide Springfield with diving services from July, 1990 - June, 1991. This assessment was to determine the cause of sewer overflow into the nearby Connecticut river.

The report covered 1640 linear feet of a total of 2210 linear feet running from Clinton Street to the Memorial Bridge. The report included schematic drawings of the sewer pipe, in cross section, showing what was found on inspection. The sewer pipe, which is 48" in diameter was found to be occluded, at various points, by anywhere from 0-30" of material. Such material was identified as mud, grit, gravel, sand, sludge, floccu-lant, hard packed grit (which a probe rod could not penetrate), brick, embedded tar, embedded cobble, embedded rope, and embedded sticks and limbs.

Sometime early in 1992, approximately seven months after Marine’s inspection, Springfield began the process of soliciting bids on a contract to clean 2,776 linear feet of the sewer pipe.2 The report prepared by Marine was part of the contract specifications. Bidders were specifically advised not to rely on the information in the report and to satisfy “[themselves] as to the conditions existing . . . and the type of equipment required.” Bid, §1.02. Marine’s contract with Springfield did not indicate that Marine’s report would be used as part of a bid package to clean the sewer pipe, nor did Springfield later tell Marine that its report was being so used.

A clause in the contract specifications put the responsibility on the bidder to determine what the condition of the sewer was. Bid, §1.02. Goudreau understood that the clause “puts the entire thing on the contractor.” The contract was ultimately awarded to Goudreau on April 3, 1992, effective May 5, 1992. The contract price for cleaning and inspection of the sewér pipe was $198,984. Goudreau relied on the Marine report in bidding this figure. Goudreau never requested access to the site to do its own inspection and never requested further information on the meaning or intent of the contract documents. Goudreau acknowledges that the report did not cover the entire length of pipe to be cleaned and that there were numerous existing blockages in the sewer pipe. Goudreau proposed, and Springfield accepted, to clean the pipe hydrologically with a 6" trash pump and 6" suction hose. Section 2.0(G) of the bid provided that all equipment and methods used be approved by Springfield. Goudreau anticipated the job would take 30 days. It was also agreed that if a mandrel could pass uninterrupted through 95% of the diameter of the pipe it (the pipe) would be deemed acceptably clean.

Shortly after May 13, 1992, nearly one year after Marine’s inspection, Goudreau commenced cleaning the sewer. On June 4, 1992, Goudreau submitted application for payment of $60,310 for work completed through May 31, 1992. Payment in the amount of $56,295 was received from Springfield on August 10, 1992. The record does not indicate how much of the pipe had been cleaned when the first application for payment was made.

Subsequent to this time Goudreau discovered that Marine’s report, then more than a year old, did not accurately describe the materials that Goudreau found in the sewer pipe. Goudreau had found broken glass and razor blades, oil/diesel fuel, boulders, rocks and stones in addition to the types of materials noted in Marine’s report. Goudreau asserts that at the time the contract was made Springfield knew that the diver’s report was inaccurate. Goudreau further asserts that these conditions, known to Springfield, were latent and unforeseeable.

At some point, not disclosed in the record, Goudreau requested an equitable adjustment of the contract pursuant to G.L.c. 30, §39N. This request was based on the allegedly “differing subsurface and latent physical conditions” in the sewer.

Springfield and Goudreau agreed to an alternate method for assessing the cleanliness of the pipe that Goudreau had worked on. Accordingly, Subsea did a dive and reported on the condition of approximately 1,000 feet of the pipe between manholes 6 and 8. Goudreau submitted an application for payment for this work on October 30, 1992. The amount of that application is not disclosed and it remained unpaid when the complaint in this action was filed on March 12, 1993.

DISCUSSION

Summary judgment shall be granted where there are no genuine issues as to any material fact and where the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Cassesso v. Commissioner of Correction, 390 Mass. 419, 422 (1983); Community Nat’l. Bank v. Dawes, 369 Mass. 550, 553 (1976); Mass.RCiv.P. 56(c). The moving party bears the burden of affirmatively demonstrating the absence of a triable issue, “and [further] that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Pederson v. Time, Inc., 404 Mass. 14, 16-17 (1989). A party moving for summary judgment who does not have the burden of proof at trial may demonstrate the absence of a triable issue either by submitting affirmative evidence that negates an essential element of the opponent’s case or “by demonstrating that proof of that element is unlikely to be forthcoming at trial.” Flesner v. Technical Communications Corp., 410 Mass. 805, 809 (1991); accord, [549]*549Kourouvacilis v. General Motors Corp., 410 Mass. 706, 716 (1991). “If the moving party establishes the absence of a triable issue, the party opposing the motion must respond and allege specific facts which would establish the existence of a genuine issue of material fact in order to defeat [the] motion.” Pederson, supra, 404 Mass. at 17. “(T]he opposing party cannot rest on his or her pleadings and mere assertions of disputed facts to defeat the motion for summary judgment.” LaLonde v. Eissner, 405 Mass. 207, 209 (1989).

Count I - Negligence

Plaintiffs first count is against Marine for negligence. Plaintiff asserts that the count should be read as one for negligent misrepresentation. Massachusetts has adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts §552(1) (1977) regarding negligent misrepresentation: “One who, in the course of his business, . . . supplies false information for the guidance of others in their business transactions, is subject to liability for pecuniary loss caused to them by their justifiable reliance upon the information, if he fails to exercise reasonable care or competence in obtaining or communicating the information.” Lawton v. Dracousis, 14 Mass.App.Ct. 164, 171 (1982).

In a case, such as this, where there is no privity between Goudreau and Marine, Marine must know that Goudreau will rely on its representation. Rae v. Air-Speed, Inc., 386 Mass. 187, 193 (1982).

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575 N.E.2d 734 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1991)
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575 N.E.2d 1107 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1991)
Cassesso v. Commissioner of Correction
456 N.E.2d 1123 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1983)
Lawton v. Dracousis
437 N.E.2d 543 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1982)
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Bluebook (online)
1 Mass. L. Rptr. 547, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goudreau-corp-v-city-of-springfield-masssuperct-1994.