R & T Roofing Contractor, Corp. v. Fusco Corp.

265 F. Supp. 3d 145
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedAugust 22, 2017
DocketCIVIL NO. 15-2955 (GAG)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 265 F. Supp. 3d 145 (R & T Roofing Contractor, Corp. v. Fusco Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
R & T Roofing Contractor, Corp. v. Fusco Corp., 265 F. Supp. 3d 145 (prd 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GUSTAVO A. GELPI, United States District Judge

This breach of contract suit arises from a major construction project to the Clem-ente Ruiz Nazario Courthouse and the Federico Degetau Federal Office Building in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. Plaintiff. R & T Roofing Contractor, Corp. (“R & T”), the subcontractor on the project, was retained by The Fusco Corporation (“Fusco”), the prime contractor. (Docket No. 4 at 2.) Fus-co was hired by the United States General Services Administration (“GSA”) for the project. Id. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (“Travélers”) provided insurance in the form of a payment bond on behalf of Fusco. Id. at 3. Fusco hired R & T to perform the roofing work on the project. Construction did not go according to plan. Id. at 2.

When the dust settled, R & T sued Fusco and Travelers for breach of contract invoking the Court’s diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. (Docket No. 1, 4.) Fusco subsequently counterclaimed against R & T. (Docket No. 16.) Fusco timely moved for summary judgment on both R <& T’s breach of contract claim and its own breach of contract, claim. (Docket No. 47.) R &.T moved to strike certain portions Fusco’s motion for summary judgment, and 'opposed summary judgment. (Docket Nos. 69, 77.) Fusco opposed R & T’s motion to' strike, and filed a summary judgment reply. (Docket No. 83.) Presently before the Court are - Fusco’s motion for summary judgment at' Docket No; 47 and R & T’s motion to strike at Docket No. 69.1 The Court addresses the latter, and then turns to the former.

[147]*1471. Preliminary Matters and Admissibility Objections2

Before trekking through the procedural thicket- that has grown from this construction dispute, the Court must first clear away the underbrush of preliminary issues raised by the parties. First, as part of its efforts to sidestep summary judgment, R & T moves to exclude portions of Fusco’s motion for summary judgment as inadmissible. (Docket No. 69.) Second, Fusco points to R & T’s failure to respond to Fusco’s requests for admission, and argues that these facts must be admitted under Rule 36. (Docket No. 83, at 1-4.) Third, Fusco argues that portions of R & T’s Opposing Statement of Material Facts at Docket No. 74 are not properly controverted, and must be deemed admitted pursuant to Local Rule 56. (Docket No. 83, 7-8.)

A. R & T’s Motion to Strike at Docket No. 69

. R & T moves to deem as inadmissible five exhibits supporting Fusco’s motion for summary judgment. (Docket No,, 69.) All five exhibits, are attachments to Bruce Le-gen’s affidavit (Docket No. 47-5) (“the Le-gen Affidavit”), which provides the basis for many of the factual assertions in Fus-co’s motion for summary judgment. The five exhibits R & T seeks to exclude are: the two Proactive Reports (Docket Nos. 47-7; 47-12); the Firestone Report (Docket No. 47-19); the Silktown Invoice (Docket No. 47-21); and the GSA Roof Assessment (Docket No. 47-23). R & T raises three categories of admissibility, objections to these exhibits: hearsay under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(c), “rule of completeness” under Federal Rule 'of Evidence 106, and relevance under Federal Rule of Evidence 401. (Docket No. 69.) Since R & T’s admissibility arguments lack merit, R & T’s motion to strike at Docket No. 69 is DENIED.

1. Hearsay

■ Hearsay is a statement made by the declarant, outside of trial or a hearing, offered by a party into evidence “to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement.” Fed. R. Evid. 801(c). Unless an exception or exclusion applies, hearsay is not admissible. Fed. R. Evid. 802. But there are many exceptions and exclusions to the rule» against hearsay. One such exception is for records of a regularly. conducted activity. Fed. R. Evid. 803(6). For this exception to apply, the record must be: (1) made at or near the time by someone with'knowledge; (2) kept in the regular course of business; (3) made in the regular practice of that activity; (4) as “showii by the testimony of the custodian or another qualified witness” and (5) free from an indication of a'lack of trustworthiness shown by the opponent. Fed. R. Evid. 803(6)(A)-(E).

R & T does not directly address Rule 803(6), but essentially raises the same argument in moving to exclude: Fusco’s affiant, Mr. Bruce Legen, lacks sufficient personal knowledge' of the five exhibits attached to his affidavit, so those exhibits must be excluded as inadmissible hearsay. [148]*148(Docket No. 69, at 4-5.) However, the Le-gen Affidavit indicates Mr. Legen has “personal knowledge of the matters set forth” in the affidavit. (Docket No. 47-5, ¶ 1.) As Fusco’s Director of Field Operations for the project, Mr. Legen was on-' site, observed R & T’s performance, and received the five exhibits in his capacity as Fusco’s Field Director. Id at ¶¶ 1-2. R & T has presented no evidence to question the trustworthiness of Mr. Legen’s assertion of personal knowledge.

While Mr. Legen may not have drafted these documents, the “qualified witness” requirement does not require original authorship for the record of regularly conduct activity hearsay exception to apply. A qualified witness is simply someone who can explain and be cross-examined concerning the manner in which the records were made and kept. Wallace Motor Sales, Inc. v. Am. Motors Sales Corp., 780 F.2d 1049, 1060-61 (1st Cir. 1985) (citations omitted). The Legen Affidavit clearly satisfies that test. Moreover, R & T has marshaled no evidence to suggest a lack of trustworthiness about the five exhibits attached to the Legen Affidavit. Rather, the ordinary business circumstances here suggest trustworthiness. See United States v. Moore, 923 F.2d 910, 915 (1st Cir. 1991) (ordinary business circumstances suggest trustworthiness absent contrary evidence). R & T’s hearsay argument fails because the five exhibits attached to the Legen Affidavit qualify as exceptions to hearsay under Rule 803(6).

2. Rule of Completeness

R & T moves to exclude the two Proactive Reports (Docket Nos. 47-7; 47-12) and the Firestone Report (Docket No. 47-19) for violating the rule of completeness. (Docket No. 69, at 2-3, 5-6.) Federal Rule of Evidence 106 codifies this common law rule.3 The principle behind the rule is that if a portion of a writing is introduced into evidence, then the opponent may seek to submit the complete version of the writing into evidence. See McCormick on Evid.

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Bluebook (online)
265 F. Supp. 3d 145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/r-t-roofing-contractor-corp-v-fusco-corp-prd-2017.