Sanchelima Int'l, Inc. v. Walker Stainless Equip. Co.

920 F.3d 1141
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedApril 10, 2019
DocketNo. 18-1823
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 920 F.3d 1141 (Sanchelima Int'l, Inc. v. Walker Stainless Equip. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanchelima Int'l, Inc. v. Walker Stainless Equip. Co., 920 F.3d 1141 (7th Cir. 2019).

Opinion

Brennan, Circuit Judge.

Decades ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court interpreted two limited remedy provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code in Murray v. Holiday Rambler, Inc. , 83 Wis.2d 406, 265 N.W.2d 513 (Wis. 1978). Wisconsin courts, and this court, have faithfully applied Murray since. But several other states have interpreted the same UCC provisions differently. On this basis alone, appellants ask us to overturn Murray , or at the least to certify the question to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. We cannot overturn established state precedent simply because it may be out of step with modern trends. A Japanese proverb may teach that "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down." But federal courts wield no such hammer when it comes to issues of state law. Murray remains the binding interpretation under Wisconsin law until and unless the Wisconsin Supreme Court decides to overturn it.

*1143I.

This case comes to us in diversity. The defendants, Walker Stainless Equipment Co., LLC and its affiliates, manufacture dairy silos. The plaintiffs, Sanchelima International, Inc. and its affiliate, sell dairy silos in Latin America.1 In 2013, after decades of doing business together, the parties entered into a distribution agreement providing that Sanchelima would serve as Walker's exclusive distributor of dairy silos in thirteen Latin American countries. Walker agreed not to sell silos directly to third parties in those thirteen countries.

The contract contained a limited remedies provision and a damages disclaimer. Section X(F) of the distribution agreement reads:

Manufacturer Liability Limitations. To the extent a ... claim ... arises out of any purchase order ... or otherwise aris[es] out of this agreement, [Walker's] aggregate total liability for any and all such claims shall be capped at, and [Walker] shall have no liability to Sanchelima ... in excess of, the amount(s) paid by [Sanchelima] to [Walker] under such purchase order, subject to section X(G). Except for the foregoing liabilities, [Walker] ... shall have no liability to [Sanchelima] for any claim ... arising out of or in connection with this agreement, the products, [Walker] trademarks, documentation, or any business activity of [Sanchelima].

Section X(G) of the distribution agreement reads:

Liability Exclusions. No [Walker-affiliated company] shall be liable to any [Sanchelima-affiliated company] for any special, indirect, incidental or consequential losses or damages including, without limitation, any lost profits or punitive damages, arising out of or in connection with this agreement, the products, documentation, [Walker] trademarks or any business activity of [Sanchelima].

(emphasis added). We refer to sections X(F) and X(G) collectively as the limited remedies provision. The contract's choice of law provision selected Wisconsin law.

After the agreement was signed, Sanchelima started to market Walker products in Mexico. Sanchelima hired sales representatives for its Mexico office and attended Mexican trade shows. Walker assigned a representative to work with Sanchelima in Mexico, but otherwise took no affirmative steps to market its products in the thirteen countries covered by the distribution agreement.

Walker's lack of marketing did not prevent it from making significant direct sales in Latin America, cutting out Sanchelima as the distribution middle man. In 2014, Walker sold over $600,000 worth of dairy silos, for distribution to a factory in Monterrey, Mexico. A few days later, Walker sold a silo to a Nicaraguan company for over $66,000. In 2015, Walker sold silos to a Nestlé plant in Mexico for almost $3 million. And in 2017, Walker sold two processor tanks to a Mexican juice company for almost $160,000.

Sanchelima learned of the Nestlé sale and notified Walker that it considered it to be a breach of the distribution agreement. When mediation talks broke down, Sanchelima filed this suit in 2016.2 Six months later, Walker notified Sanchelima it was terminating their agreement without cause. Sanchelima sought lost profits of more than $600,000 on its breach of contract claims. Walker denied breaching the *1144distribution agreement and raised several affirmative defenses and counterclaims. On appeal, only one is relevant: Walker raised the limited remedies provision of the distribution agreement as an affirmative defense and noted it explicitly precludes recovery of "any lost profits ... arising out of or in connection with the Distributor Agreement...."

Walker moved for summary judgment relying on the contract's limited remedies provision. The district court denied the motion and held that provision violates Wisconsin's version of the UCC § 2-719, codified at Wis. Stat. § 402.719,3 which reads in relevant part:

(2) Where circumstances cause an exclusive or limited remedy to fail of its essential purpose , remedy may be had as provided in chs. 401 to 411.
(3) Consequential damages may be limited or excluded unless the limitation or exclusion is unconscionable . Limitation of consequential damages for injury to the person in the case of consumer goods is prima facie unconscionable but limitation of damages where the loss is commercial is not.

(emphases added). Because the limited remedy provision provided no relief for Walker's breach of the exclusivity provision, the court held it failed of its essential purpose and was unconscionable. The district court therefore considered all UCC remedies, including consequential damages for lost profits.

The case was tried to the bench. The court found that Walker breached the parties' contract and that, but for Walker's breach, Sanchelima would have made all of the sales Walker made in Mexico.4 Applying Sanchelima's average gross profit margin on Walker products to Walker's gross revenue on the sales in question, the district court awarded Sanchelima $778,306.70 in damages for lost profits. Walker appealed.

II.

Only damages are at issue here. The district court held that the consequential damages disclaimer in Section X(G) did not apply because the limited remedies provision failed of its essential purpose to provide Sanchelima relief for Walker's breach of exclusivity. The court so ruled based on Wisconsin's interpretation of UCC § 2-719.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
920 F.3d 1141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanchelima-intl-inc-v-walker-stainless-equip-co-ca7-2019.