MGM Grand Hotel, Inc. v. Imperial Glass Co.

65 F.R.D. 624, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11555
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedDecember 17, 1974
DocketCiv. No. LV-2032 RDF
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 65 F.R.D. 624 (MGM Grand Hotel, Inc. v. Imperial Glass Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MGM Grand Hotel, Inc. v. Imperial Glass Co., 65 F.R.D. 624, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11555 (D. Nev. 1974).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ROGER D. FOLEY, Chief Judge.

FACTS

Plaintiff initiated the instant suit on April 20, 1973. As a jurisdictional base plaintiff relies on diversity of citizenship in that it is a Nevada corporation, defendant Imperial Glass Company is a California corporation, and defendant United Pacific Insurance Company is a Washington corporation. Since all defendants were transacting business within the State of Nevada, in personam jurisdiction over them was obtained through the use of NRS § 14.065. (The Nevada “long-arm” statute.) Plaintiff has alleged damages in excess of $10,000.

Plaintiff’s alleged cause of action against defendants arose in the following fashion. On June 19, 1972, plaintiff and defendant Imperial Glass Company (hereinafter Imperial) entered into a contract whereby Imperial was to act as a subcontractor and perform certain services in conjunction with the construction of plaintiff’s hotel and casino facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to the terms of this agreement, Imperial was to furnish to plaintiff an acceptable surety bond to insure the performance of Imperial’s contractual duties. Imperial procured this surety bond from defendant United Pacific Insurance Company (hereinafter United Pacific) and furnished it to plaintiff. On April 16, 1973, after Imperial had performed a substantial amount of work on the project, plaintiff terminated the aforementioned contract alleging that [627]*627Imperial had performed its work in a shoddy manner and had failed to comply with the applicable construction completion schedule.

Plaintiff further alleged that as a result of this breach it was forced to hire another sub-contractor to finish the remainder of Imperial’s work at a cost in excess of $10,000. Plaintiff’s allegation directed towards defendant United Pacific is that it failed to reimburse plaintiff for the damage caused by Imperial’s breach or correct the construction defects caused by the breach.

On June 18, 1973, defendants filed their answer to plaintiff’s complaint, specifically denying the majority of plaintiff’s allegations and setting forth' certain affirmative defenses. In addition, defendants Gordon Ross and I. M. Zeman, co-partners, dba Imperial Glass Company, filed a counter-claim against plaintiff and a third-party complaint against third-party defendants Taylor Construction Company (hereinafter referred to as Taylor), Morris M. Mason, and Stuart J. Mason. In their counterclaim defendants allege that they have suffered damages in excess of $22,000,-000.00.

On May 14, 1974, defendants and third-party plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure praying that MGM’s complaint be dismissed. This motion for summary judgment was based on the ground that,

“ . . Plaintiff cannot maintain this action because of Plaintiff’s failure and inability to allege and prove that it was a duly licensed contractor under the laws of the State of Nevada during all times when it was acting in the capacity of a contractor within the State of Nevada, in connection with its performance of the contract on which Plaintiff’s complaint is based.” Defendant’s motion for summary judgment p. 2.

After the receipt of all appropriate responsive and reply memorandums of points and authorities the motion for summary judgment was set for oral argument on November 7, 1974. Having heard oral argument on the issue, and no cross motion for summary judgment having been filed by plaintiff, by order of this Court dated November 7, 1974, defendants and third-party plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment stands submitted.

ISSUE

Should the motion for summary judgment be granted ?

DISCUSSION

(I) IS THERE A GENUINE ISSUE OF MATERIAL FACT PRESENTED BY THE INSTANT CASE ? The procedure involved in granting a motion for summary judgment allows the cause to be removed from the trier of fact and decided by the court as a matter of law if there are no genuine issues of material fact presented by the case. Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,

“ . . . permits a party to pierce the allegations of fact in the pleadings and to obtain relief by summary judgment where facts set forth in detail in affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file show that there are no genuine issues of material fact to be tried.” 6 Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 56.04 [1], p. 2058.

The motion for summary judgment may rest entirely on the pleadings, or it may be supported by affidavits. Once the movant has made and supported his motion in this fashion a duty devolves on the opposing party to affirmatively show that there are genuine issues of material fact to be tried in the case. As the Ninth Circuit has noted:

“When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in Rule 56, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his pleading. As [628]*628stated in Rule 56(e), his response by affidavits or otherwise must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If he does not so respond, summary judgment, if otherwise appropriate, shall be entered against him. (Citations omitted.) One against whom a motion for summary judgment is filed is therefore under a duty to show that he can produce evidence at the trial, and is not entitled to a denial of that motion upon the unsubstantiated hope that he can produce such evidence at the trial.” Chapman v. Rudd Paint & Varnish Co., 409 F.2d 635, 643 (9th Cir. 1969).

If affidavits are filed either in support of or opposition to the motion for summary judgment, these affidavits,

“ . . . must be made on the personal knowledge of the affiant, set forth facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show affirmatively that affiant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein.” See 6 Moore’s Federal Practice f[ 56.22[1], p. 2803, and Rule 56(e) F.R.C.P.

In addition to memoranda of points and authorities, both parties to the instant ease have filed affidavits. Upon examination it appears that these affidavits meet the aforementioned test.

The instant case presents this Court with two key issues. The first of these is clearly an issue of law, hence, it presents no difficulty in the context of a motion for summary judgment. The first issue arises out of Section 16.12 of the agreement entered into between plaintiff MGM and defendant Imperial.

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Bluebook (online)
65 F.R.D. 624, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mgm-grand-hotel-inc-v-imperial-glass-co-nvd-1974.