Peri & Sons Farms, Inc. v. Jain Irrigation, Inc.

933 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 2013 WL 164089, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6013
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedJanuary 15, 2013
DocketNo. 3:11-cv-00757-VPC
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 933 F. Supp. 2d 1279 (Peri & Sons Farms, Inc. v. Jain Irrigation, Inc.) 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
Peri & Sons Farms, Inc. v. Jain Irrigation, Inc., 933 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 2013 WL 164089, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6013 (D. Nev. 2013).

Opinion

[1281]*1281 ORDER

VALERIE P. COOKE, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before the court is defendant Jain Irrigation, Inc.’s motion for partial summary judgment regarding plaintiffs tort claims and prayer for- punitive damages (# 86).1 Plaintiff opposed (# 100) and defendant replied (# 115). The court has thoroughly reviewed the record and grants defendant Jain Irrigation, Inc.’s motion for partial summary judgment (# 86).

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2010, plaintiff Peri & Sons Farms, Inc. (“plaintiff’) purchased irrigation drip tape to irrigate its commercial onion crop in Mason Valley, Nevada during the 2011 growing season (# 86, p. 2). Plaintiff ordered approximately 8,967 rolls of irrigation drip tape, which were manufactured by defendant Jain Irrigation, Inc. (“Jain”) (# 86, p. 2; # 100, p. 3). Plaintiff placed the order with defendant Agri-Valley Irrigation, Inc. (“Agri-Valley”), an independent distributor of Jain’s products (# 86, p. 2). Jain manufactured the irrigation drip tape and delivered it directly to plaintiff in Yerington, Nevada (# 100, pp. 10, 20).2

Irrigation drip tape is similar to a flat tube and contains small openings known as “emitters.” (# 86, p. 2 fn. 1; # 100, p. 4). The drip tape is buried in the seed-beds before planting. After the onions are planted, irrigation water is pumped into the drip tape and exits the tape through the emitters, allowing for a designated rate of flow to irrigate the planted onions below the ground’s surface. Id. Plaintiff alleges that the drip tape it received from Jain in 2011 was defective because the emitters, or slits in the drip tape, were misplaced so that the slits were blocked or partially blocked. Thus, the drip tape failed to emit water at the designated rate and failed to sufficiently irrigate-plaintiffs onion crops (# 64, p. 23; # 100, pp. 3, 21). Plaintiff also alleges that Jain knowingly shipped drip tape which failed to satisfy Jain’s written specifications and which should have been scrapped or at least set aside for further testing (# 100, p. 14).3

Jain admits that portions of its irrigation drip tape contained slits that were blocked or partially blocked by the tape’s glue seam due to a manufacturing defect and admits that those portions of the drip tape failed to function properly (#86, p. 2; # 94, p. 8). Jain also admits that the root cause of the manufacturing defect was machine instability at Jain’s manufacturing facility in Watertown, New York (# 94, p. 8). However, Jain maintains that mitigation efforts were largely- successful, and that plaintiff was able to harvest a good [1282]*1282onion crop with only a small decrease in quality compared to the previous two-year average, and with no decrease in overall pack-out yield compared to the previous two-year average. Id. Plaintiff asserts that it experienced a larger reduction in quality (misshaped or undersized onions), as well as a reduction in yield, each of which .translated into lost profits, and that it also incurred mitigation expenses (# 94, p. 8; #100, p. 23).

On May 21, 2012, plaintiff filed its First Amended Complaint, alleging the following claims: (1) breach of contract against Agri-Valley; (2) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing against Agri-Valley; (3) breach of express warranty against Agri-Valley and Jain; (4) breach of the implied warranty of merchantability against Agri-Valley and Jain; (5) breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose against AgriValley and Jain; (6) fraudulent concealment against Jain; (7) strict products liability against Jain; (8) negligence against Jain; (9) promissory estoppel against Jain; and (10) breach of oral contract against Jain (# 64).

Jain has now filed a motion for partial summary judgment on plaintiffs tort claims (strict products liability, negligence, and fraudulent concealment) and on plaintiffs prayer for punitive damages (# 86). Jain opines that when a commercial product, such as irrigation drip tape, fails to function properly and causes anticipated damages — here, lost profits due to decreased onion quality and yield — the remedy lies in contract or warranty law, not tort law. Id. at 3. Jain asks the court to grant partial summary judgment in its favor on the grounds that: (1) the economic loss doctrine bars plaintiffs tort recovery; (2) plaintiffs fraudulent concealment claim fails as a matter of law because plaintiff and Jain did not have a “special relationship,” and Jain had no duty to disclose its quality control information; and (3) plaintiffs prayer for punitive damages is not supported by plaintiffs remaining claims for relief (# 86, p. 1).

Plaintiff asserts that this lawsuit is not “a run of the mill commercial case” involving a product which simply failed to work properly, but a case involving deceit (# 100, p. 2). Plaintiff contends that Jain agreed to produce the specified irrigation drip tape in a “blatant attempt to profit from the intentional distribution of a defective product it cannot make.” Id. Thus, plaintiff argues it is entitled to pursue its tort claims and prayer for punitive damages. Id. Specifically, plaintiff opposes Jain’s motion for partial summary judgment on the grounds that: (1) the economic loss doctrine does not preclude plaintiffs tort claims (# 100, pp. 24-34); (2) Jain represented that it could produce irrigation drip tape to meet plaintiffs specifications; Jain had a duty to disclose the problems and defects it experienced while manufacturing plaintiffs drip tape; plaintiff relied on Jain to specially manufacture the drip tape; Jain knew that plaintiff was relying on its representations; and plaintiff suffered damages as a result of Jain’s fraudulent conduct (# 100, pp. 34-38); and (3) plaintiff is entitled to pursue its prayer for punitive damages (# 100, pp. 38-41).

II. DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS

A. Legal Standards

1. Summary Judgment

Summary judgment allows courts to avoid unnecessary trials where there are no factual disputes. Nw. Motorcycle Ass’n v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 18 F.3d 1468, 1471 (9th Cir.1994). The court will grant summary judgment if no genuine. issues of material fact remain in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The [1283]*1283court must view all evidence and any inferences arising from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Bagdadi v. Nazar, 84 F.3d 1194, 1197 (9th Cir.1996). Where reasonable minds could differ on the material facts at issue, however, summary judgment should not be granted. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The moving party bears the burden of informing the court of the basis for its motion, and submitting authenticated evidence to demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact for trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see Orr v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Untitled Case
D. Nevada, 2026
In re Hardieplank Fiber Cement Siding Litig.
284 F. Supp. 3d 918 (D. Maine, 2018)
Kattawar v. Logistics & Distribution Services, Inc.
111 F. Supp. 3d 838 (W.D. Tennessee, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
933 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 2013 WL 164089, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6013, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peri-sons-farms-inc-v-jain-irrigation-inc-nvd-2013.