Insurance Co. of West v. United States

83 Fed. Cl. 535, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 268, 2008 WL 4266242
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedAugust 28, 2008
DocketNo. 07-395 C
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 83 Fed. Cl. 535 (Insurance Co. of West 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
Insurance Co. of West v. United States, 83 Fed. Cl. 535, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 268, 2008 WL 4266242 (uscfc 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

DAMICH, Chief Judge.

Before the Court is a motion by Defendant, the United States (“the Government”), to dismiss this case pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiff, Insurance Company of the West (“ICW”), filed this action to recover for a series of progress payments that it believes the Government wrongfully disbursed to Texas Mechanical Systems (“TMS”), a government contractor to which ICW issued surety bonds. The Government asserts that ICW is not entitled to recover for the disbursed progress payments because the Government’s equitable duty to act with reasoned discretion to protect ICWs interests was never triggered, as ICW did not provide sufficient notice to the contracting officer of a default by TMS on the particular bonded contracts at issue.1 In particular, the Government argues that ICW only notified the contracting officer of an actual default on a different bonded contract, not the bonded contracts at issue in this ease. The Government also, in its initial brief, argued that notice of potential default could not trigger the Government’s equitable duty. In supplemental briefing, however, the Government seemed to concede that it would.

Assuming all allegations in the complaint to be true, and taking all reasonable factual inferences in favor of ICW, the Court finds that ICW has sufficiently presented a claim upon which relief can be granted. A letter sent to the Government’s contracting officer from ICW prior to disbursement of the progress payments appears to have met the threshold for providing adequate notice of a potential default by TMS on the bonded contracts at issue, thereby triggering the Government’s duty to act with reasoned dis[537]*537eretion to protect ICW’s interests in the contract funds. As such, the Government’s motion to dismiss this case pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) is DENIED.

I. Background

On September 28, 2005, TMS was awarded two contracts, No. SBA0610-05-508537/ V519C-018 2 (“the # 182 contract”) and No. SBA0610-05-507056/V519C-018 3 (“the # 183 contract”), to improve a Veterans Administration (‘VA”) building in Big Springs, Texas. Compl. at 1. On October 14, 2005, ICW issued a performance bond and a payment bond for each of these contracts in favor of the VA.2 Id. at 2. On the same day, the VA issued a notice to proceed. Pl.’s Supp. Br. at Ex. 1.

On March 23, 2006, the contracting officer for the VA, Ms. Beverly Atwell, sent a letter to TMS stating that “[a]s of today, approximately 20% of work activity has been completed although 65% of the construction period has expired.” Id. Ms. Atwell requested that TMS “immediately” provide an updated progress schedule “showing the steps [TMS would] take to expedite work activity as necessary to allow the contract to be completed on schedule.” Id. The record does not reflect whether TMS did provide an updated progress schedule or whether the VA communicated any further concerns to TMS.

On June 28, 2006, Ms. Melissa Aros, a “Surety Claim Analyst” for ICW, sent a letter to Ms. Atwell, asserting “ICW’s rights of equitable subrogation” and citing Pearlman v. Reliance Ins. Co., 371 U.S. 132, 83 S.Ct. 232, 9 L.Ed.2d 190 (1962). Compl. at Ex. B. Ms. Aros’s letter referenced the contracts at issue in this litigation and stated that the letter “serves as ICW’s formal request that no further funds be disbursed to TMS without the express written consent of ICW,” including “all present and future progress payment billings.”3 Id. But, Ms. Aros did not expressly point to a problem with the contracts referenced. Instead, the letter stated that “ICW has been made aware of claims and unpaid bills pertaining to vendors and subcontractors on another bonded project involving TMS,” leading ICW to believe that it may already be liable under other bonds due to TMS’s unpaid bills. Id. (emphasis added). Because of this situation, Ms. Aros informed Ms. Atwell that “any contract funds on these contracts which you are presently holding, and other contracts involving TMS, are considered trust funds for the specific payment of outstanding labor or material suppliers and subcontractors.” Id.

The VA subsequently disbursed four payments to TMS, totaling $114,877.38, without first consulting with ICW. Compl. at 2-3. On November 22, 2006, the VA sent a letter informing ICW that these payments had been made and that the VA “did default [TMS] on November 15, 2006.” Id. at Ex. C. When TMS defaulted, ICW was obligated under the bonds to pay suppliers and subcontractors under the # 182 and # 183 contracts a total of $123,302.59. Id. at 3. Thus, ICW now seeks as damages the sum of the progress payments disbursed by the VA after Ms. Aros’s letter was sent. Id. at 4.

II. Analysis

A. Legal Standard

To succeed on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the movant must establish that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient allegations to entitle it to a remedy. Godwin v. United States, 338 F.3d 1374, 1377 (Fed.Cir.2003). Conversely, in order to survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff must establish that the complaint “adequately states a [538]*538claim,” that is, that the complaint “eontain[s] either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material elements necessary to sustain recovery under some viable legal theory.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1969 n. 8, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (quoting Car Carriers, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 745 F.2d 1101, 1106 (7th Cir.1984)). A well-pleaded complaint will survive a motion to dismiss even if it appears “that a recovery is very remote and unlikely.” Id. at 1965 (quoting Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974)). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the Court must assume the facts alleged in the complaint to be true and draw all reasonable inferences in Plaintiffs favor. Id. Allegations in the complaint need not be overly detailed, but do need to “raise a right to relief above the speculative level” or “nudge[ ][the] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Id. at 1965, 1974. “[0]nce a claim has been stated adequately,” however, “a plaintiff receives the benefit of imagination so long as the hypotheses are consistent with the complaint.” Id. at 1969 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

B. The Doctrine of Equitable Subrogation

In general, the doctrine of equitable subrogation provides that a surety can step into the shoes of a defaulting contractor and assert the contractor’s rights in seeking reimbursement of its costs. National Am. Ins. Co. v. United States, 498 F.3d 1301, 1305-07 (Fed.Cir.2007); see also Pearlman, 371 U.S. at 137, 83 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
83 Fed. Cl. 535, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 268, 2008 WL 4266242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/insurance-co-of-west-v-united-states-uscfc-2008.