McBud of Missouri, Inc. v. Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.

68 F. Supp. 2d 1076, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14962, 1999 WL 743526
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedAugust 24, 1999
DocketNo. 4:98-CV-645 CAS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 68 F. Supp. 2d 1076 (McBud of Missouri, Inc. v. Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McBud of Missouri, Inc. v. Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc., 68 F. Supp. 2d 1076, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14962, 1999 WL 743526 (E.D. Mo. 1999).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SHAW, District Judge.

Plaintiff McBud of Missouri, Inc. (“McBud” or “plaintiff’) brings this diversity action for damages, alleging that defendant improperly terminated certain commercial distributorships in violation of the Missouri Power Equipment Act, R.S.Mo. §§ 407.750 et seq. (1994). The case is before the Court on defendant Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.’s (“SE & A” or “defendant”) motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff opposes the motion.

Defendant moves for summary judgment, asserting that the Power Equipment Act does not apply to this case because the statute’s coverage is limited to “power equipment,” and McBud did not distribute “power equipment” on its behalf. Defendant further contends that plaintiff did not also repair power equipment, as the statute requires. Plaintiff responds that it distributed and repaired “power equipment” within the meaning of the unambiguous terms of the statute, and even if the Court concludes the statute is ambiguous, a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the equipment it sold and repaired is “power equipment.”

Resolution of the motion for summary judgment requires interpretation of the applicable Missouri statute, which is a matter of law, not of fact. Staley v. Missouri Dir. of Revenue, 623 S.W.2d 246, 248 (Mo. banc 1981). For the following reasons, the Court concludes the Power Equipment Act does not apply to the type of equipment McBud distributed for SE & A, and therefore SE & A’s motion for summary judgment should be granted.

I. Standard of Review.

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment shall be entered “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.” In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court is required to view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and must give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts. AgriStor Leasing v. Farrow, 826 F.2d 732, 734 (8th Cir.1987). The moving party bears the burden of showing both the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

Once the moving party has met its burden, the non-moving party may not rest on the allegations of its pleadings but must set forth specific facts, by affidavit or other evidence, showing that a genuine issue of material fact exists. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). Anderson, 477 U.S. at 257, 106 S.Ct. 2505; City of Mt. Pleasant v. Associated Elec. Coop., Inc., 838 F.2d 268, 273-74 (8th Cir.1988). Rule 56(c) mandates “the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

With this standard in mind, the Court finds the following facts for purposes of the instant motion for summary judgment.

[1079]*1079II. Facts.

McBud is a distributor of items of equipment used in various applications to control and distribute electric power. The equipment intercepts electric power as it enters an end user’s facility, and distributes and controls the power within the end user’s facility. The equipment McBud distributes is typically used to distribute electrical power through a series of interrelated machines and equipment in order to allow the machines and equipment to work in a coordinated fashion. McBud refers to this equipment as “control components” and states the components are an integral part of many automation systems in industrial, construction and maintenance uses. McBud concedes that it never sold or repaired equipment that operates with its own power source (ie., an internal combustion engine) and uses that power to propel itself or do work.

In 1992, McBud entered into separate distributorship agreements with SE & A and Siemens Industrial Automation, Inc. (“SIA”). The SE & A agreement (Def.’s Ex. A) authorized McBud to distribute the following product lines under the “Distribution Equipment Components Module” and “Industrial Control Module”:

Molded Case Circuit Breakers for the MRO [maintenance repair operation] and construction markets, Enclosed Switches, Busway, Bus Plugs, Dry Type Distribution Transformers, Unassem-bled Panelboards with appropriate circuit breakers, Construction Market AC Control Products, Switchgear Parts, AC Control Products & Sensors, Molded Case Circuit Breakers for the Industrial OEM Market Drive Products, Motor Control Centers, Medium Voltage Control.

(Def.’s Ex. A, Attachments “B” and “D”.)

The SIA agreement (Def.’s Ex. B) provided that McBud would distribute the following product lines:

SIMATIC S5 Programmable Controllers, Programmers, Software Products, and Peripherals directly related to SIMATIC S5, SINEC Networks and SI-PART, ... SIMATIC TI Programmable Controllers, Software Products and Peripherals directly related to SIMATIC TI, TI505 series, TISTAR, APT, RTU, TFA, and CVU.... SIMATIC TI305 & TI405 Programmable Controllers, Software Products and Peripherals directly related.... SICOMP Industrial Computers and Man-Machine Interfaces.1

(Def.’s Ex. B, Modules “A”-“D”.)

The distribution agreements make no reference to McBud repairing or offering repair service for any of the product lines it was authorized to sell. Plaintiff has submitted the affidavit of its president, Terry W. Koby, which avers that McBud sold and repaired equipment under the distribution agreements. For purposes of the instant motion, the Court accepts as true that McBud both sold and repaired equipment under the agreements. The Court also assumes that the subject equipment was used in industrial, construction or maintenance applications.

In October 1995, SIA merged into SE & A. As a result, SIA ceased to exist and the remaining corporation, defendant SE & A, continued manufacturing and selling the product lines of both SIA and SE & A.

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Bluebook (online)
68 F. Supp. 2d 1076, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14962, 1999 WL 743526, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcbud-of-missouri-inc-v-siemens-energy-automation-inc-moed-1999.