MONTGOMERY RUBBER AND GASKET CO., INC. v. Belmont MacHinery Co., Inc.

308 F. Supp. 2d 1293, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3479, 2004 WL 540437
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedFebruary 17, 2004
DocketCivil Action 03-T-147-N
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 308 F. Supp. 2d 1293 (MONTGOMERY RUBBER AND GASKET CO., INC. v. Belmont MacHinery Co., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MONTGOMERY RUBBER AND GASKET CO., INC. v. Belmont MacHinery Co., Inc., 308 F. Supp. 2d 1293, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3479, 2004 WL 540437 (M.D. Ala. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

MYRON H. THOMPSON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Montgomery Rubber and Gasket Company, Inc. brought this lawsuit against defendants Belmont Machinery Company, Inc. and Brent Woody, d/b/a Woody Machinery Company, claiming that, in selling a “Berthiez Vertical Boring Mill” to Montgomery Rubber, Belmont Machinery and Woody represented that the mill would be in working condition, but that when it was delivered it was inoperable. Montgomery Rubber asserts a number of *1295 state-law claims: (1) misrepresentation of material fact; (2) suppression of material fact; (3) deceit; (4) breach of contract; (5) breach of implied warranty of merchantability; (6) breach of implied warranty of fitness for particular use; and (7) breach of express warranty. Belmont Machinery and Woody removed this lawsuit from state to federal court based on diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1332, 1441.

Now before the court are Belmont Machinery’s and Woody’s .motions for summary judgment. Belmont Machinery’s will be granted in part and denied in part, and Woody’s will be granted in whole.

I. SUMMARY-JUDGMENT STANDARD

Rule 56(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment is appropriate where “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” This standard can be met, in a case in which the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial rests on the nonmoving party, either by submitting affirmative evidence negating an essential element of the nonmoving party’s claim or by demonstrating that the nonmovant’s.ev-idence itself is insufficient to establish an essential element of his claim. The moving party may make this showing by deposing the nonmoving party’s witness, by establishing the inadequacy of the documentary evidence or, if there is no evidence, by reviewing for the court the facts that exist to show why they do not support a judgment for the nonmoving party. The movant need not present affidavits or new evidence to meet this initial burden, but may premise the summary-judgment motion on an attack on the nonmoving party’s evidence; once that is done, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to call evidence to the attention of the court to dispute that contention. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, 10A Federal Practice and Procedure 3d. § 2727. Moreover, a district court must consider “all the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party ... and resolve all reasonably doubts in favor of the non-moving party.” Earley v. Champion Int’l Corp., 907 F.2d 1077, 1080 (11th Cir.1999).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Ed Shaneyfelt, general manager of Gun-ter Park Machine and Hydraulics, a division of Montgomery Rubber, traveled to Schaumburg, Illinois, to meet with John Brandli, a salesperson for Belmont Machinery. Belmont Machinery sells used machines. The Illinois meeting was for the purpose of purchasing a lathe (which was purchased), but during the meeting, Shaneyfelt also saw a boring mill that he was interested in, although, according to Shaneyfelt, the mill was not discussed during the visit.

It appears that the purchase of the boring mill was negotiated by telephone. Brandli offered the machine for $ 29,500 and Montgomery Rubber counter-offered $ 25,000. Brandli agreed to the price on the condition that Montgomery Rubber would forgo an inspection and “test run” of the mill. Apparently, the boring mill was partially disassembled and would have taken some work to make fully operable before shipment. However, according to Shaneyfelt, Brandli assured him that, “with or without having someone come in to assemble and wire the machine for a test run, the Berthiez [boring mill] was fully operable and would run once delivered to Alabama.” 1 Shaneyfelt agreed to these terms. The offer was memorialized in a proposal, signed by Brandli and faxed to Shaneyfelt.

*1296 According to Montgomery Rubber, payment was made to Woody, Belmont Machinery’s “supplier,” at Belmont Machinery’s request. Belmont Machinery claims that it was actually Woody who made the purchase, and it submits an invoice showing that the same lathe and mill were sold to Woody on November 21, 2001 and shipped “per [Woody’s] instructions.” The total price on the invoice is $ 60,000: $ 35,-000 for the lathe, and $ 25,000 for the mill. Shipping does not appear to be included, and the invoice is marked as “collect,” not paid. 2

Belmont Machinery also submits an invoice from Woody to Montgomery Rubber, for the lathe and boring mill, dated November 20, 2001, as well as a check from Montgomery Rubber to Woody for the full price on the invoice, also dated November 20. The total price paid by Montgomery Rubber to Woody was $ 71,250. According to the invoice from Woody to Montgomery Rubber, the company paid Woody $ 42,500 for the lathe, $ 25,000 for the boring mill, and $ 3,750 for shipping. However, the notation on the check from Montgomery Rubber to Woody (which was endorsed by Woody) states that $ 44,000 was paid for the lathe, $ 25,000 for the mill, and $ 2,250 for shipping. The price-markup between Woody and Montgomery Rubber for the lathe is not explained, but this may be Woody’s fee for his services.

Montgomery Rubber has also submitted a bill of lading, showing that both the mill and the lathe were shipped to it on November 29, 2001, and were received by Shaneyfelt on December 3, 2001.

Montgomery Rubber could not make the boring mill operable after receiving it. The company says that it worked on the mill “unsuccessfully for some time,” 3 but does not say how long it was until it contacted either Belmont Machinery or Woody. According to Belmont Machinery, after approximately 90 days, Montgomery Rubber contacted Brandli to complain that it could not make the machine run. However, Shaneyfelt, in his affidavit, “categorically den[ies] ... Brandli’s statement that he had no communication with myself or anyone else at [Montgomery Rubber] until approximately 90 days after Montgomery Rubber’s purchase of the Berthiez.” 4 Brandli allegedly gave Montgomery Rubber some names of mechanics who could assist it. However, according to Montgomery Rubber, it has discovered that the mill has numerous mechanical and environmental issues and would be too expensive to fix.

III. DISCUSSION

Montgomery Rubber states many causes of action against both Belmont Machinery and Woody. Montgomery Rubber asserts the following claims against Belmont Machinery and Woody: (1) misrepresentation of material fact, 1975 Ala.Code §§

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
308 F. Supp. 2d 1293, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3479, 2004 WL 540437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montgomery-rubber-and-gasket-co-inc-v-belmont-machinery-co-inc-almd-2004.