Great American Insurance Co. v. Nelson, Inc.

276 F. Supp. 3d 762
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Tennessee
DecidedApril 20, 2017
DocketCase No. 2:16-cv-02283-JPM-cgc
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 276 F. Supp. 3d 762 (Great American Insurance Co. v. Nelson, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Great American Insurance Co. v. Nelson, Inc., 276 F. Supp. 3d 762 (W.D. Tenn. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

JON P. McCALLA, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

Before the Court is Plaintiff Great American Insurance Company (“GAIC”)’s Motion for Summary Judgment, filed December "23, 2016. (ECF No. 25.) Defendants Nelson, Inc., Willie .. Nelson, Sr., and Hattie Nelson filed, a response in opposition on January 2Ó, 2017. (ECF No. 26.) Plaintiff filed a reply on February 3, 2017 (ECF No. 30), and amended that reply with leave of Court on,March 21, 2017 (ECF Ño. 34.) For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 25). Specifically, "the Court GRANTS summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff, on the issue of Defendant Nelson, Inc.’s breach of the Indemnity Agreement; DENIES summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff on the issue of Defendant Nelson, Inc.’s breach of the Settlement Agreement; GRANTS Plaintiffs request for specific performance under the Indemnity Agreement; and GRANTS Plaintiffs request for attorneys’ fees and costs under the Indemnity Agreement. This Order does not address claims against Defendants Willie Nelson, Sr. and Hattie Nelson pursuant to an automatic stay under, 11 U.S.C. § 362.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 6, 2006, Plaintiff GAIC and Defendants executed an Indemnity Agreement. (ECF No. 1-5; ECF No. 25-2 ¶ 8.) The Indemnity Agreement "provided that the Defendants would indemnify GAIC in return for GAIC issuing performance and payment bonds necessary for Defendant Nelson, Inc. to secure construction contracts with various public and private clients. (ECF No. 1-5; ECF No. 25-2 ¶ 7.) The Indemnity Agreement also contained other provisions, such as a requirement that any funds associated with the secured construction contracts received by Defendants would'be deposited into a separate trust account, and that GAIC would be entitled to attorneys’ fees or costs for suits relating to the Indemnity Agreement. (ECF No. 1-5; ECF No. 25-2 ¶ 26.)

In July 2009, Nelson, Inc, secured a contract with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) for construction of stone dikes (hereinafter the' “Stone Dike Contract”). (ECF No. "25-2 ¶5.) GAIC then issued performance and payment Bonds on behalf of Nelson, Inc. for the Stone Dike Contract. (Id. ¶ 6.)

Ón February 9,2010, the USACE terminated Nelson Inc.’s right to proceed .with further work on the Stone Dike Contract. [765]*765(Id. ¶ 10.) Subcontractors and suppliers of the Defendants then sought payment from GAIC. (See id. ¶ 11.) GAIC made these payments after April 27, 2010. (Id.) Defendants did not reimburse GAIC, and thus GAIC brought suit against'Defendants in September 2010. (ECF No., 25-2 ¶ 12; ECF No. 26-3 ¶ 1.)

In February 2012, GAIC and Defendants Willie Nelson, Sr. and Hattie Nelson entered into a settlement agreement (hereinafter the “Settlement Agreement”). (ECF No. 25-2 ¶ 17.), The Settlement Agreement required, among other things, that Willie Nelson, Sr. and Hattie Nelson make several payments to GAIC as well as assist GAIC in collecting remaining contract funds, such as for those fund associated with the Stone Dike Contract. (Id.) Both Willie Nelson, Sr. and Hattie Nelson failed to make full payments to GAIC as set out in the Settlement Agreement. (See id. ¶ 24; see also ECF No. 26-2 ¶¶ 24, 29.)

On December 16, 2015, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals found that USACE improperly terminated Nelson, Inc.’s Stone Dike Contract, which resulted in Nelson, Inc. receiving a monetary settlement between USACE and Nelson, Inc. (ECF No. 25-2 ¶23.) In February 2016, Nelson, Inc. received a payment of $222,108.00 from USACE for the Stone Dike Contract. (Id. ¶ 27.)

On April 27, 2016, GAIC filed the instant action for breach of the Settlement and Indemnity Agreements, and seeking in-junctive relief. (ECF No. 1.) Defendants 'filed an Answer on June 7, 2016. (ECF No. 15.)

On December 23, 2016, GAIC filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. (ECF No. 25.) Defendants Nelson, Inc., Willie Nelson, Sr., and Hattie Nelson filed a response in opposition on January 20, 2017. (ECF No. 26.) On January 20, 2017, Defendants Willie Nelson, Sr. and Hattie Nelson filed a Notice of Bankruptcy, (ECF Nos. 27-28.) Plaintiff filed a reply to Defendant’s response the Motion for Summary Judgment on February 3, 2017 (ECF No. 30), and amended that reply with leave of Court on March 21, 2017 (ECF No.. 34.)

II. LEGAL STANDARD: Summary Judgment

A party is entitled to summary judgment “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a .matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). “A fact is ‘material’ for purposes of summary judgment if proof of that fact would establish or refute an essential element of the cause of action or defense.” Bruederle v. Louisville Metro Gov’t, 687 F.3d 771, 776 (6th Cir. 2012).

“In considering a motion for summary judgment, [the] court construes all reasonable inferences in favor of the lionmoving party.” Robertson v. Lucas, 753 F.3d 606, 614 (6th Cir. 2014) (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)). “The moving party bears the initial burden of demonstrating the absence of any genuine issue of material fact.” Mosholder v. Barnhardt, 679 F.3d 443, 448 (6th Cir. 2012) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)).

“Once the moying party satisfies its initial burden, the burden shifts to the non-moving party to set forth specific facts showing a friable issue of material fact.” Mosholder, 679 F.3d at 448-49; see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e); Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348. “When the non-moving party fails to make a sufficient showing of an essential element of his case on which he bears, the burden of proof, the moving parties are entitled to judgment as a matter of law and summary judgment is proper.” Martinez v. Cracker Barrel Old [766]*766Country Store, Inc., 703 F.3d 911, 914 (6th Cir: 2013) (quoting Chapman v. UAW Local 1005, 670 F.3d 677, 680 (6th Cir. 2012) (en banc)); see also Kalich v. AT & T Mobility, LLC, 679 F.3d 464, 469 (6th Cir. 2012).

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276 F. Supp. 3d 762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/great-american-insurance-co-v-nelson-inc-tnwd-2017.