Orangeburg Pecan Co., Inc. v. Farmers Inv. Co.

869 F. Supp. 351, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19763, 1994 WL 656570
CourtDistrict Court, D. South Carolina
DecidedJuly 11, 1994
DocketCiv. A. 5:93-1787-22
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 869 F. Supp. 351 (Orangeburg Pecan Co., Inc. v. Farmers Inv. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Orangeburg Pecan Co., Inc. v. Farmers Inv. Co., 869 F. Supp. 351, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19763, 1994 WL 656570 (D.S.C. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER

CURRIE, District Judge.

This action arises out of an alleged breach of a contract to supply pecans. Jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). The matter is before the court on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss/or for Summary Judgment. Counsel for both parties submitted briefs, and on April 19, 1994, the court heard argument. The court directed counsel to file by May 10, 1994, any additional evidence or memoranda of law on the personal jurisdiction issue. Counsel for Plaintiff submitted additional evidence and copies of deposition extracts, and counsel for Defendant submitted a supplemental memorandum of law.

The court has carefully reviewed the entire record in this matter, and considered the arguments of fact and law cited by counsel at the April 19 hearing. The court finds that Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment should be denied as to the issue of lack of personal jurisdiction. The motion for dismissal of Plaintiffs Second Cause of Action based on the South Carolina *353 Unfair Trade Practices Act, S.C.Code Ann. § 39-5-10 et seq. (Law.Co-op.1976) will be held under advisement pending the filing of any additional information to be furnished on that issue by counsel, as ordered below, see infra, III. Unfair Trade Practices.

As to the motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, the allegations of the complaint are to be taken as true insofar as they are not controverted by Defendant’s affidavits; where affidavits of both parties contain contradictory factual allegations, those related in Plaintiffs complaint and affidavits will be accepted as true. See Wolf v. Richmond County Hosp. Authority, 745 F.2d 904, 908 (4th Cir.1984). Applying this standard, the court finds the following facts.

I. FACTS

Plaintiff is a South Carolina pecan sheller that purchases lower-grade quality pecans and reworks the usable portions. It is incorporated in South Carolina and has its principal place of business there. Defendant is a large-scale Arizona pecan grower and processor. It has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Santa Cruz Valley Pecan Co., which is also located in Arizona and which is a pecan sheller. Defendant is an Arizona corporation that maintains businesses in Florida, Arizona and New Mexico. The instant dispute arose out of an alleged contract for the sale, F.O.B. Collect, of “reworkable” 1 pecans by Defendant to Plaintiff.

The pecan operations of both parties are primarily on the wholesale level. Although Plaintiff and Defendant could be characterized as competitors in the market, because their geographic sales areas do not typically overlap, they do not generally compete. From time to time, shortages of certain grades of pecans have prompted representatives of both parties to contact other pecan wholesalers in an attempt to fill the shortages through what may be described as an “accommodation trade,” meaning pecans of one grade are swapped for pecans of another grade, or an “accommodation sale,” meaning that pecans are purchased by one party from the other for a negotiated price. Defendant has made several such accommodation sales to South Carolina businesses. Between 1987-1993 Defendant sold 886,856 pounds of pecans to South Carolina businesses for a total invoice price of $1.4 million. (Def.Exh. F94). Of that $1.4 million sales, $167,429 was .to Plaintiff. During that same time, Defendant also traded pecans with a South Carolina business and shipped several sample pecans free of charge.

As a result of a shortage of pecan crops, in December 1992, Fred Felder, Sr., an employee of Orangeburg Pecan, contacted Don Nil-sen, an employee of Santa Cruz Valley Pecan Co., in order to see if the latter had any off-grade pecans for sale. Nilsen responded that he did not have any at that time but would let Felder know if he acquired any. In April 1993, Nilsen called Felder to report that he had a quantity of off-grade shelled pecans available for purchase. Nilsen agreed to send Plaintiff a two-case sample, which is customary practice in the trade. The sample pecans arrived in Orangeburg in eases marked “Amber.” 2 Based on the sample, Felder called Nilsen and ordered 2,700 30-pound cases (81,000 pounds total) of unprocessed pecan pieces. After some negotiation, the parties agreed on a price of $1.50 per pound for the pecans, for a total cost of $121,500. The pecans were to be shipped “F.O.B. Collect,” which means that Defendant would make arrangements for the shipping but that Plaintiff would be responsible for paying the freight costs to the shipper upon the arrival of the goods in South Carolina. On May 7, 1993, Plaintiff accepted 2,700 cases of pecans. The shipment contained 850 eases of unprocessed amber pecans of a quality consistent with the sample and 1,850 cases of dark amber nut pieces. After inspection, Plaintiff accepted the 850 cases of amber pecans, accepted nine cases of the dark amber pecans for testing purposes, and rejected the balance. Defendant re *354 claimed the nonconforming nuts in South Carolina on June 14-15, 1993. Plaintiff paid Defendant $1.50 per pound, for a total cost of $38,250 for the 850 cases of accepted amber nuts, and $405 for the nine cases of accepted dark amber nuts used for testing purposes. Plaintiffs payment cheeks were drawn on a South Carolina bank account and were deposited by Defendant in its bank account.

On or about June 17, 1993, Plaintiff commenced this action in the Court of Common Pleas for Orangeburg County. Plaintiffs complaint asserts two causes of action: (1) breach of contract, in which Plaintiff seeks to recover the difference between the cost of the pecans as allegedly contracted-for and the cost of replacement pecans, plus lost profits and other incidental and consequential damages; and (2) a violation of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, S.C.Code Ann. § 39-5-10 et seq., based on Plaintiffs allegation that Defendant intentionally shipped pecans to it that did not conform to the earlier sample, and that Defendant’s purpose in doing this was to force Plaintiff to choose between either accepting the inferior pecans or paying the return shipping costs. Defendant removed this case to federal court on July 21, 1993.

Defendant now moves for an order dismissing this action or, in the alternative, for an order granting it summary judgment as to Plaintiffs claim under the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA). Defendant argues that the South Carolina long-arm statute, S.C.Code Ann. § 36-2-803, does not authorize the court to exercise jurisdiction over Defendant and that the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits the court from exercising jurisdiction because Farmers has not created or maintained the requisite “minimum contacts” with South Carolina. Defendant urges that the exercise of jurisdiction would not be fair or reasonable.

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Bluebook (online)
869 F. Supp. 351, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19763, 1994 WL 656570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orangeburg-pecan-co-inc-v-farmers-inv-co-scd-1994.