M.A. DeAtley Construction, Inc. v. United States

71 Fed. Cl. 370, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 178, 2006 WL 1737948
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 22, 2006
DocketNo. 04-1052 C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 71 Fed. Cl. 370 (M.A. DeAtley Construction, 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
M.A. DeAtley Construction, Inc. v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 370, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 178, 2006 WL 1737948 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

DAMICH, Chief Judge.

I. Introduction

Plaintiff M.A. DeAtley Construction, Inc. (“DeAtley”) filed a six-count complaint against the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Western Federal Lands Highway Division (“Government”) alleging breach of contract and five other contract-related claims. On November 28, 2005, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss five of the six counts for failure to state a claim and for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”). For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

II. Background

On February 9, 2001, the Government awarded Plaintiff a contract to reconstruct a portion of the Flowery Trail Road in the state of Washington. Compl. ¶ 4 (citing Contract No. DTFH70-01-C-00011). As part of the reconstruction process, the contract required Plaintiff to crush rock and then to lay the crushed rock (known as aggregate) to serve as a foundation for the road. Pl.’s Resp. at 2-3. The Government selected an optional source for Plaintiff to use in the aggregate production. Id. (citing Contract § 105.05). The contract provided that the aggregate produced must meet certain standards to ensure a compacted and durable foundation for the pavement. Id. at 4 (citing Contract § 703.05).

Relying upon the Government’s assurances that the designated aggregate source complied with contract specifications, Plaintiff utilized it and completed the rock crushing in [372]*372the fall of 2001. Id. at 9-10. During the winter, Plaintiff alleges that it stored the aggregate in stockpiles in accordance with industry standards. Id. at 13; Compl. ¶ 7. In August of 2002, Plaintiff began laying the aggregate. Compl. ¶¶ 7-8. While laying the aggregate, Plaintiff discovered that it had degraded to such an extent that it failed to satisfy contract standards. Id. ¶ 12. After informing the Government of the aggregate’s deficiency, Plaintiff offered to provide the Government with a credit rather than replace the deficient aggregate. Id. ¶ 10. After declining Plaintiffs offer, the Government instructed Plaintiff to remove the aggregate and replace it with new aggregate. Id. ¶¶ 10, 12; Pl.’s Resp. at 14. After completing the replacement, Plaintiff filed a claim with the contracting officer seeking $277,838.55, for the costs associated with the additional work. Compl. ¶ 14. The contracting officer denied Plaintiffs claim on December 11, 2003. Id. ¶ 15.

On June 22, 2004, Plaintiff filed a six-count complaint against the Government alleging breach of contract, defective specifications, differing site conditions, constructive change, failure to mitigate, and unjust enrichment/quantum meruit. Compl. ¶¶ 18-51. At its core, Plaintiffs suit is based on its belief that the Government breached the contract by designating poor-quality rock that could not be utilized for its intended purpose — the road reconstruction.

Defendant filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs claims under RCFC 12(b)(6) arguing, in large part, that [as] “the gravamen of DeAt-ley’s complaint is a differing site condition, that is, that the rock from the Government-provided source was unsuitable for its intended purpose, those counts alleging breach of contract (Count 1), defective specifications (Count 2), constructive change (Count 4), and failure to mitigate (Count 5) should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Def.’s Mot. at 3. Defendant does not challenge Count 3 wherein Plaintiff alleges differing site conditions. Def.’s Reply at 2-3 (stating that “DeAtley has set forth a legally cognizable claim for a differing site condition ...”). In addition, Defendant argues that the court lacks jurisdiction over Plaintiffs prayer for interest in an amount greater than that provided under the Contract Disputes Act and Plaintiffs prayer for attorneys’ fees prior to the entry of final judgment in Plaintiffs favor.1

In its response to Defendant’s motion, Plaintiff withdrew its unjust enrichment/quantum meruit claim (Count 6). Pl.’s Resp. at 1, n. 1. Plaintiff also conceded that its prayer for interest in the amount of 12% per annum may exceed the amount established by the Secretary of the Treasury under the Contract Disputes Act and now “only seeks interest that is allowable by law.” Id. at 20.

III. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

When reviewing a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the court’s review is limited. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). “The issue is not whether a plaintiff will ultimately prevail but whether the claimant is entitled to offer evidence to support the claims.” Id. (stating that “it may appear on the face of the pleadings that a recovery is very remote and unlikely but that is not the test”). “A complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). In making this determination, the court “must accept as true all the factual allegations in the complaint, and ... [373]*373indulge all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-movant.” See Sommers Oil Co. v. United States, 241 F.3d 1375, 1378 (Fed.Cir.2001) (citations omitted). In Conley v. Gibson, the Supreme Court described the approach to be taken in ascertaining the sufficiency of a claim under the rules of notice pleading:

[T]he Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not require a claimant to set out in detail the facts upon which he bases his claim. To the contrary, all the Rules require is ‘a short and plain statement of the claim’ that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiffs claim is and the grounds upon which it rests. The illustrative forms appended to the Rules plainly demonstrate this. Such simplified ‘notice pleading’ is made possible by the liberal opportunity for discovery and the other pretrial procedures established by the Rules to disclose more precisely the basis of both claim and defense and to define more narrowly the disputed facts and issues. Following the simple guide of Rule 8(f) that ‘all pleadings shall be so construed as to do substantial justice,’ we have no doubt that petitioners’ complaint adequately set forth a claim and gave the respondents fair notice of its basis. The Federal Rules reject the approach that pleading is a game of skill in which one misstep by counsel may be decisive to the outcome and accept the principle that the purpose of pleading is to facilitate a proper decision on the merits.

355 U.S. at 47-48, 78 S.Ct. 99 (emphasis added). Furthermore, in the context of a motion to dismiss, the Federal Circuit in Gould, Inc. v. United States,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
71 Fed. Cl. 370, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 178, 2006 WL 1737948, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ma-deatley-construction-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.