Highway Sales, Inc. v. Blue Bird Corp.

504 F. Supp. 2d 630, 63 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 782, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61877, 2007 WL 2372398
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedAugust 21, 2007
Docket05-CV-1652 (PJS/JJG)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 504 F. Supp. 2d 630 (Highway Sales, Inc. v. Blue Bird Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Highway Sales, Inc. v. Blue Bird Corp., 504 F. Supp. 2d 630, 63 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 782, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61877, 2007 WL 2372398 (mnd 2007).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

PATRICK J. SCHILTZ, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the parties’ objections to Magistrate Judge Jeanne J. Graham’s April 2, 2007 Report and Recommendation (“R & R”) [Docket No. 105]. In her R & R, Judge Graham recommends that defendants’ motion for summary judgment [Docket No. 65] be granted in part and denied in part. As to most of plaintiffs’ claims, the Court agrees with Judge Graham’s recommended disposition. The Court finds, however, that defendants are entitled to summary judgment on all of plaintiffs’ claims, not just on those claims as to which Judge Graham recommends summary judgment. Accordingly, the Court overrules plaintiffs’ partial objéction [Docket No. 107], sustains defendants’ objection [Docket No. 108], and adopts Judge Graham’s R & R to the extent that it is consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

The key facts are thoroughly described in Judge Graham’s R & R. R & R at 1-4. The Court will summarize them only briefly here. As did Judge Graham, the Court will resolve any disputes and make all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs’ favor.

Plaintiff Donald Oren runs plaintiff Highway Sales, Inc., a company that sells and leases highway tractors (i.e., the front portion of a tractor-trailer). Rodlund Aff. Ex. I (“Oren Dep.”) at 7-8 [Docket No. 84]. In early 2003, Oren decided to replace his 1977 General Motors recreational vehicle (“RV”) with a new luxury RV manufactured by defendant Blue Bird Corporation. Id. at 17-19. In late July or early August 2003, Highway Sales purchased, for Oren’s use, a Blue Bird Wanderlodge M380 from defendant Thermo Leasing Corporation, a Blue Bird dealer that does business under the name Shorewood RV. 1 Oren Dep. Exs. 1 & 5. Highway Sales paid almost $340,000 for the RV, a 38-foot vehicle built on a bus chassis. Oren Dep. at 21-22; id. Ex. 5.

*635 As Judge Graham explains, numerous defects in the RV surfaced in the months following the sale. See R & R at 1-2 (citing record). Oren returned the RV to Shorewood RV for repairs on several occasions. Id; Oren Dep. at 24-32, 54-60; id. Exs. 1 & 10. By early July 2004, however, Oren had given up hope that the RV could ever be put in satisfactory working condition. Oren Dep. at 62-64. He cleaned out his personal belongings and, on July 2, 2004, dropped off the RV at Shorewood RV’s sales lot. Oren Dep. at 62; Purvis Aff. Ex. B at 1 [Docket No. 12]. As Oren said at his deposition, at that point, “I was just done with it.” Oren Dep. at 63. About a week later, on July 8, Oren wrote to Blue Bird requesting a refund of the RV’s purchase price and stating:

After almost a year of continued problems with this motor home [i.e., the Wanderlodge M380 at issue in this suit], I have come to three conclusions. First, the Model M380 was released before it had been properly designed, tested, and debugged. Second, Shorewood RV is a terrific dealer for you, but even they could not overcome the inherent problems in the Model M380. Third, I have run out of patience, confidence, and trust that the problems can be fixed in a reasonable time, and I request that you return my purchase price....
On July 2, 2004, after the engine batteries once again died, I removed all of my personal belongings and returned the coach to the dealer. This was the final event — the last straw....
Suffice it to say that I am out of patience, and that both of our lives will be made easier if you will simply authorize a repurchase of the coach at its original cost. This coach simply needs to be permanently recalled until major corrections are made....
I’m not interested in further retrofits, patches, or excuses. I will never take this coach back.

Purvis Aff. Ex. B at 1-2.

Blue Bird refused to give Highway Sales a refund. Oren Dep. at 84; id. Ex. 16. In mid-September 2004, Oren and Shore-wood RV partially executed a consignment agreement under which Shorewood RV agreed to sell the Wanderlodge M380 on Highway Sales’s behalf. Oren Dep. at 64-68; id. Ex. 12. Throughout the remainder of 2004, Oren corresponded with Blue Bird, raising the specter of legal action and continuing to seek a refund. Id. Exs. 3, 22-23. Blue Bird disputed Oren’s claims about the condition of the RV and continued to refuse to issue a refund. Id. Ex. 24.

In February 2005, Oren agreed to sell the RV to a Florida-based dealer, Parliament Coach. Oren Dep. at 69-71; id. Exs. 30-31. The sale took place some time between then and April 2005. Oren Dep. at 114-16; Rodlund Aff. Ex. E at 2, Ex. F at 5. Oren admits that he did not give Blue Bird notice before selling the RV to Parliament Coach. Oren Dep. at 71-72, 116.

On July 15, 2005, Highway Sales sued defendants in state court. Defendants removed the case to this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a).

II. DISCUSSION

A Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). A dispute over a fact is “material” only if its resolution might *636 affect the outcome of the suit under the governing substantive law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute over a fact is “genuine” only if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for either party. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co. v. Union Pac. R.R., 469 F.3d 1158, 1162 (8th Cir.2006). In considering a motion for summary judgment, a court must assume that the nonmoving party’s evidence is true. Taylor v. White, 321 F.3d 710, 715 (8th Cir.2003).

B. Breach of Warranty

In Count 1 of its second amended complaint, Highway Sales alleges that Blue Bird breached the implied warranties of merchantability and of fitness for a particular purpose, as well as applicable express warranties. Blue Bird argues that all of Highway Sales’s breach-of-warranty claims are untimely. Def. Mem. Supp. Mot. S.J. at 4-10 (“Def.S.J.Mem.”) [Docket No. 72],

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504 F. Supp. 2d 630, 63 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 782, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61877, 2007 WL 2372398, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/highway-sales-inc-v-blue-bird-corp-mnd-2007.