Natchez Steel & Pipe, Inc. v. Valley Steel Products Co.

426 F. Supp. 1072, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17405
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 11, 1977
DocketCiv. A. No. W75-73(R)
StatusPublished

This text of 426 F. Supp. 1072 (Natchez Steel & Pipe, Inc. v. Valley Steel Products Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Natchez Steel & Pipe, Inc. v. Valley Steel Products Co., 426 F. Supp. 1072, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17405 (S.D. Miss. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

DAN M. RUSSELL, Jr., Chief Judge.

Natchez Steel and Pipe, Inc., a Mississippi corporation domiciled in Adams County, Mississippi, initially brought this action in the Circuit Court of Adams County, Mississippi, against Valley Steel Products Company, a Missouri corporation.1 The parties have stipulated that the Court has diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. Although defendant, herein called Valley Steel, has not qualified to do business in Mississippi, it has been served with process pursuant to Mississippi’s “long arm” statute, and has otherwise subjected itself to the jurisdiction of the Court.

Plaintiff, herein called Natchez Steel, claimed that, on or about April 25, 1975, it entered into a contract with Valley Steel whereby Valley Steel agreed to sell and deliver the plaintiff 20,000 feet of 4y2" O.D. 11.6 pound, grade J-55 seamless, long thread and coupling, 8 round thread, range 3 oil well casing, evidenced by a Telex communication of that date, and whereby plaintiff was to pay defendant the sum of $3.85 per foot, for a total of $77,000.00, providing that the casing met the agreed upon specifications. Plaintiff also alleged that defendant agreed to furnish plaintiff with independent laboratory test reports verifying that the casing conformed to recognized standards for grade J-55 casing. By successive shipments during May 1975, defendant shipped to plaintiff approximately 20,-000 feet of casing. Plaintiff alleged that the casing so delivered failed to conform to the specifications in that it failed to meet J-55 grade specification; did not meet the wall thickness standard of 4V2" O.D., 11.6 pound per foot casing; its code labeling was altered and did not conform to such labeling as required by law; it included bent and distorted joints; and a substantial portion had serious construction defects, including thin areas, cracks and gouges. Plaintiff alleged that the easing was not suitable for [1074]*1074the purpose for which it was intended, was not merchantable, and would not pass without objection in the trade. Although plaintiff, relying upon the representations of the defendant, admitted that it conditionally accepted the first load of casing and tendered it for sale to plaintiff’s customer, one G. E. Pool, upon substantially the same specifications in plaintiff’s contract with defendant, plaintiff averred that its customer refused the casing. Plaintiff averred further that despite its demands that defendant supply the test reports verifying that the casing was in fact J-55 grade, defendant failed and refused to deliver same with the exception of two reports, neither of which was identifiable with the casing delivered to plaintiff, and one of which was concealed by the defendant to plaintiff’s detriment and which in fact describes material other than J-55 casing. Plaintiff alleged that due to the failure of the casing to meet the required specifications, plaintiff was called upon to defend itself, after defendant refused to assume plaintiff’s defense, against the suit of its customer which suit successfully resulted in the rescission of Pool’s contract with plaintiff, the rescission of a letter of credit issued by a local bank in favor of plaintiff, and the return of the casing to plaintiff. Finally, plaintiff alleged that upon its discovery of the defects and variations in the casing from the specifications agreed upon by the defendant, plaintiff orally and in writing revoked its acceptance of the casing which defendant has refused to recognize. By reason of its suit, plaintiff seeks rescission of the contract and claims by reason of defendant’s breach of the contract and its warranties, plaintiff is entitled to direct and consequential damages in the full sum of $47,460.36 and punitive damages. Direct and consequential damages include a partial payment which plaintiff made, the profit plaintiff lost on its proposed sale to its customer, storage and trucking costs, costs of inspection and testing of the casing, and the costs of its aforesaid litigation with its customer, including the attorney fees incurred by plaintiff. The claim for punitive damages is based on defendant’s purported falsification of code labeling on the casing, the alteration of such labeling, representations that defendant would supply independent laboratory test results knowing that same did not exist, the concealment of test results showing the casing to be other than that specified by plaintiff, and false representations as to the nature of the casing.

The defendant answered and counterclaimed for the balance of the purchase price alleged to be due in the sum of $64,-431.01. In its answer the defendant claimed that in the final contract between it and plaintiff, evidenced by defendant’s letter of April 28, 1975, defendant delivered a sample load of casing consisting of 3191.2 feet of 4V2" O.D. X 11.60 #L.T.&C. Non-API Range 3 tested in accordance with the agreement of the parties. Upon receiving this shipment, dated May 6, 1975, plaintiff advised defendant that it was acceptable and to ship the remainder. Thereafter, on May 9, 10, 16 and 27, 1975, defendant shipped casing which allegedly complied with the terms of the agreement except for a final shipment containing pipe which was Range 2, but which plaintiff consented to accept in lieu of Range 3, the total pipe delivered to plaintiff aggregating 516 joints or 19,972.4 feet, all of which was in substantial compliance with the terms of the contract. Defendant admitted knowing that plaintiff intended to resell the pipe to its customer and assumed that the casing was sold for the purpose of using it as oil well casing. Defendant admitted that it had been informed of the litigation between plaintiff and its customer and the results thereof. Defendant contended that Pool, plaintiff’s customer, alleged and proved that he contracted to buy from plaintiff casing bearing an API J-55 monogram, whereas, such requirement was not contained in the contract between plaintiff and defendant. The defendant denied that it owed plaintiff the obligation to defend Pool’s suit against plaintiff. Defendant admitted that plaintiff had attempted unilaterally to rescind the contract between it and defendant, but denied that it had agreed to a rescission or was called upon to rectify any alleged non-conformities. For [1075]*1075affirmative defenses, the defendant claimed that if plaintiff had a right of rescission, which was denied, plaintiff, by its and its customer’s acceptance of the sample shipment, waived any right of rescission and is estopped to claim same; exemplary damages are not recoverable in a breach of contract action in the absence of proof of tortious conduct on the part of the defendant, of which there is none; and the direct and consequential damages claimed by plaintiff do not flow from a breach of contract action. In its counterclaim, defendant admitted a partial payment by plaintiff in the sum of $12,276.12, but claimed a balance due, with credits for returned material, in the sum of $64,431.01. Defendant also claimed interest and a reasonable attorney’s fee.

The case was tried to the Court without a jury, and post-trial proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law have been submitted by both parties.

According to stipulations entered into evidence, the parties agreed that, prior to the delivery of any casing to plaintiff, all communications between the plaintiff and defendant had been conducted by telephone, telex, or regular mail between representatives of the plaintiff at Natchez, Mississippi, and representatives of the defendant at its offices in either St. Louis, Missouri, or Dallas, Texas.

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Bluebook (online)
426 F. Supp. 1072, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/natchez-steel-pipe-inc-v-valley-steel-products-co-mssd-1977.