Granader v. McBee

23 F.3d 120, 29 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 656, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 15348, 1994 WL 242512
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJune 22, 1994
Docket93-02742
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 23 F.3d 120 (Granader v. McBee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Granader v. McBee, 23 F.3d 120, 29 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 656, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 15348, 1994 WL 242512 (5th Cir. 1994).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Alan Granader (“Granader”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment against him, and the district court’s award of Rule 11 sanctions. Finding no error, we AFFIRM the district court on both points of appeal.

I. FACTS

In December of 1988, Alan Granader borrowed $50,000 from First National Bank of Texas (“Bank”) to purchase 5,000 shares of Bank common stock for his children. When the Bank did not deliver his stock, Granader made inquiries about the status of the stock. Upon being provided a copy of the stock certificates in 1989, Granader discovered that the stock had been incorrectly issued in his name, rather than his children’s names. He also discovered that the stock was not a new issue, but a transfer of Jim D. McBee’s, the Bank’s president, stock. In spite of this information, Granader did not file suit or seek a correction.

On July 23, 1992, the Bank was declared insolvent at which time the FDIC was appointed Receiver of the Bank. Granader filed a suit in Harris County state court against Jim D. McBee (“McBee”) and the FDIC. The FDIC removed the suit to federal court. McBee moved for summary judgment and the district court granted summary judgment in favor of McBee and the FDIC. 1 McBee later filed a motion for Rule 11 sanctions against Granader. The district court granted the motion and ordered Gra-nader to pay $8,890 in sanctions. Granader timely appealed to this court.

II. DISCUSSION

Granader claims the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of McBee, and in granting McBee’s motion for Rule 11 sanctions.

A. Did the district court err in granting summary judgment ?

Granader asserts that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of McBee, because McBee failed to meet his summary judgment burden. Granader argues that the district court granted summary judgment on all of his claims even though MeBee’s motion failed to mention his claim under Section 33 of the Texas Securities Act and his shareholder derivative claim. *122 Granader argues that silence and omission cannot inform the district court of anything, nor identify parts of the record to support summary judgment. See N.L. Industries v. GHR Energy Corp., 940 F.2d 957, 965 (5th Cir.1991), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 873, 116 L.Ed.2d 778 (1992) (This court rejected as “disingenuous” defendant’s efforts to support summary judgment on all claims where it only sought summary judgment as to some claims.).

Granader argues that in granting summary judgment on the non-contract claims, the district court relied on the inaccurate view that he brought his cause of action only after the Bank failed and he lost his investment. Granader claims that he sued McBee in 1991 and sued the Bank on July 22, 1992, before the Bank failed on July 23, 1992.

Granader also argues that even if we believe that McBee met his summary judgment burden, clearly he met his burden of showing that genuine issues of material fact exist. Granader claims that McBee’s motion is predicated on the following two arguments: (1) McBee made no representations to Gra-nader, hence, Granader could not have relied on same; and (2) there was no agreement between McBee and Granader. Granader, however, claims that he presented evidence that McBee made oral representations about the Bank’s stock in at least one Bank board meeting and that these representations were directly relayed to Granader by his brother, Dan Granader. 2 Granader also claims that he presented evidence that McBee made written representations about the Bank’s stock in materials that the Bank directly relayed to Granader. Granader concludes that because of the conflicting evidence, fact questions exist for jury resolution.

Granader further argues that a substantial portion of his suit effectively involves fraud and misrepresentation of one specie or another. Granader claims that under Texas law, “whether a fraud has been committed is a fact question to be determined by the trier of facts.” Berquist v. Onisiforou, 731 S.W.2d 577, 580 (Tex.App. — Houston [14th Dist.] 1987, no writ). Finally, Granader argues that there are fact questions present in his shareholder derivative claim. He claims that although the funds from his purchase of “new issue” stock were to go to the Bank to provide additional working capital, the funds instead were diverted to McBee in exchange for “old stock.”

We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment by reviewing the record under the same standards which guided the district court. Alexandria Associates, LTD., v. Mitchell Co., 2 F.3d 598, 600 (5th Cir.1993). A grant of summary judgment is proper when no genuine issue of material fact exists that would necessitate a trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-54, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In determining whether the grant was proper all fact questions are viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Questions of law, however, are decided de novo. Walker v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 853 F.2d 355, 358 (5th Cir.1988). The moving party has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Williams v. Adams, 836 F.2d 958, 960 (5th Cir.), reh. denied, en banc, 844 F.2d 788 (5th Cir.1988). Once the movant carries this burden, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to show that summary judgment should not be granted. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324-25, 106 S.Ct. at 2553-54. A party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment may not rest upon mere allegations or denials of pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing the existence of a genuine issue for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256-57, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2514-15, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The district court properly granted summary judgment in McBee’s favor. McBee disproved, as a matter of law, at least one essential element of each of Granader’s causes of action. By Granader’s own admission, there was no agreement between him and McBee. Furthermore, they never discussed the purchase of the Bank’s stock. Hence, Granader cannot prove his cause of action for breach of contract, because the uncontroverted evidence is that there was no *123 agreement whatsoever between Granader and McBee.

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23 F.3d 120, 29 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 656, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 15348, 1994 WL 242512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/granader-v-mcbee-ca5-1994.