Grand Acadian, Inc. v. United States

87 Fed. Cl. 193, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 182, 2009 WL 1538087
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMay 29, 2009
DocketNo. 07-849 C
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 87 Fed. Cl. 193 (Grand Acadian, Inc. 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
Grand Acadian, Inc. v. United States, 87 Fed. Cl. 193, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 182, 2009 WL 1538087 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

HEWITT, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff, Grand Acadian, Inc., filed a complaint at the United States Court of Federal Claims on November 30, 2Ó07. The Complaint (Complaint or Compl.) “involves claims made against the United States by and through the Federal Emergency Management Agency [ (FEMA) ] ... arising out of General Services Administration [ (GSA) ] ... Lease Number GS-07B-16028 [ (the Lease) ] ... and appeals from an adverse Contracting Officer Final Decision.” Compl. 1. On January 25, 2008, plaintiff filed its First Amended Complaint (First Amended Compl.). Plaintiff alleges that defendant failed to build infrastructure on the leased property and to restore the leased property — at the termination of the Lease term — as required by the Lease. First Amended Compl. 3. Defendant filed Defendant’s Answer to the First Amended Complaint on May 20, 2008 and Defendant’s Amended Answer and Affirmative Defense on October 14, 2008. Now before the court are the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment, filed December 1, 2008: Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (plaintiff’s Motion or PL’s Mot.) and Defendant’s Rule 56 Motion for Summary Judgment (defendant’s Motion [196]*196or Def.’s Mot.). On January 9, 2009 plaintiff filed Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (plaintiffs Response or Pl.’s Resp.) and defendant filed Defendant’s Response to Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (defendant’s Response or Def.’s Resp.). On January 26, 2009, defendant filed Defendant’s Reply in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment (defendant’s Reply or Def.’s Reply) and plaintiff filed Plaintiffs Reply to Defendant’s Response to Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (plaintiffs Reply or Pl.’s Reply). On February 4, 2009, defendant filed, with the court’s permission, Defendant’s Sur-Reply to Newly Submitted Evidence in Plaintiff’s Reply (defendant’s Sur-Reply or Def.’s Sur-Reply).

For the following reasons, plaintiffs Motion is GRANTED-IN-PART and DENIED-IN-PART, and defendant’s Motion is GRANTED-IN-PART and DENIED-IN-PART.

I. Background

On December 7, 2005, following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, FEMA entered into an agreement with plaintiff to lease approximately thirty acres of property in Sulphur, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana (the Property). First Amended Compl. 3; Pl.’s Mot. 2-3 (citing [Plaintiffs] Corrected Proposed Findings of Uncontroverted Fact (plaintiffs Facts or Pl.’s Facts), Exhibit (Ex.) D). The Lease commenced on December 7, 2005 and was for a term of three years, at an annual rent of $252,262.50, “subject to termination and renewal rights.” Pl.’s Facts, Ex. D at 1, ¶¶ 2-3; Defendant’s Proposed Findings of Uncon-troverted Fact In Support of Rule 56 Motion For Summary Judgment (defendant’s Facts or Def.’s Facts), Ex. 3 at 1, ¶¶ 2-3. On February 27, 2006, defendant sent a notice of lease termination to plaintiff. Def.’s Facts, Ex. 5; Pl.’s Facts, Ex. E (Notice of Lease Termination). The government terminated the Lease effective as of December 6, 2006. Notice of Lease Termination. Plaintiff complains that FEMA failed to construct certain improvements on the Property and, following the termination of the Lease, failed to restore the property. First Amended Compl. 3. Plaintiff seeks damages totaling some twenty-one million dollars. Id. ¶ 178. The United States contends that it was not required to construct improvements on the Property, Def.’s Mot. 4, and that it is not liable for the costs of restoration plaintiff seeks, id. at 6-8.

II. Legal Standards

A. Summary Judgment

The grounds for summary judgment are set forth in Rule 56 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). RCFC 56. RCFC 56(c)(1) provides:

A motion for summary judgment should be granted if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

RCFC 56(c)(1); see also Mann v. United States (Mann), 334 F.3d 1048, 1050 (Fed.Cir.2003) (“Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” (citing RCFC 56(c))). The moving party has the initial burden of demonstrating “the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.” Crater Corp. v. Lucent Techs., Inc., 255 F.3d 1361, 1366 (Fed.Cir.2001) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett (Celotex), 477 U.S. 317, 322-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)).1 This [197]*197burden may be discharged by “pointing out ... that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. There is “no express or implied requirement in Rule 56 that the moving party support its motion with affidavits or other similar materials negating the opponent’s claim.” Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (emphasis omitted). However, the moving party must file with the court documentary evidence, such as declarations, that support its assertions that material facts are beyond genuine dispute, nee RCFC 56(c)(2), unless it is basing its motion for summary judgment on the “absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case,” Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548; see also Anchor Sav. Bank, FSB v. United States, 59 Fed.Cl. 126, 139-40 (2003). The adverse party then must “set out specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial.” RCFC 56(e)(2). RCFC 56(e)(2) provides:

When a motion for summary judgment is properly made and supported, an opposing party may not rely merely on allegations or denials in its own pleading; rather, its response must — by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule — set out specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. If the opposing party does not so respond, summary judgment should, if appropriate, be entered against that party.

RCFC 56(e)(2). “Rule 56(e) permits a proper summary judgment motion to be opposed by any of the kinds of evidentiary materials listed in Rule 56(c), except the mere pleadings themselves, and it is from this list that one would normally expect the nonmoving party to make the showing to which we have referred.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. “The party opposing the motion must point to an evidentiary conflict created on the record; mere denials or eonelusory statements are insufficient.” SRI Int’l v. Matsushita Elec. Corp. of Am., 775 F.2d 1107, 1116 (Fed.Cir.1985) (citing Barmag Barmer Maschinenfabrik AG v. Murata Mach., Ltd., 731 F.2d 831, 836 (Fed.Cir.1984)). “[T]he mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. (Anderson), 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A fact is material if it “might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
87 Fed. Cl. 193, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 182, 2009 WL 1538087, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grand-acadian-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.