Seaway Painting, Inc. v. D.L. Smith Co. (In Re Cornell & Co.)

242 B.R. 834, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19930
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 21, 1999
DocketCiv.A. 99-993. Bankruptcy No. 96-31650. Adversary No. 98-374
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 242 B.R. 834 (Seaway Painting, Inc. v. D.L. Smith Co. (In Re Cornell & Co.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seaway Painting, Inc. v. D.L. Smith Co. (In Re Cornell & Co.), 242 B.R. 834, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19930 (E.D. Pa. 1999).

Opinion

*836 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BECHTLE, District Judge.

Presently before the court are the appeal of appellants Seaway Painting, Inc. (“Seaway”) and Cornell and Company, Inc. (“Cornell”) and cross-appeal of appellee and cross-appellant D.L. Smith Company (“D.L. Smith”) from a final judgment in a core proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (“Bankruptcy Court”). 1 For the reasons set forth below, the court will remand the action back to the Bankruptcy Court for proceedings consistent with the court’s Memorandum.

I. BACKGROUND

Debtor Cornell is a construction company. Between 1991 and 1993, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (“SEPTA”) awarded Cornell four contracts as the general contractor to perform rehabilitation work on the Markets Frankford Elevated Railroad (the “El”) in Philadelphia. 2 The nature of this appeal concerns only one of those contracts, known as Contract CL-2D. In March 1994, Cornell subcontracted with Seaway for structural painting work on, among other things, the CL-2D Project (the “Project”). In September 1994, Seaway assigned its rights in connection with the CL-2D contract to D.L. Smith.

D.L. Smith began work on the Project in September 1994 and worked continuously until late November 1994, when SEPTA imposed its annual moratorium through Christmas in order for shoppers to fully utilize the El. Following the end of SEPTA’s moratorium, D.L. Smith did not re-mobilize to return to the Project until March 1995, due to weather conditions which restricted D.L. Smith’s use of paint and primer.

In 1995, the Project experienced several delays associated with design errors, OSHA’s adoption of new “fall protection” standards, changes in federal lead-abatement standards, extra work and SEPTA’s changes in acceptance of work criteria. In addition to these delays, Cornell fell behind in its payments to D.L. Smith. Work on the project in 1995 ceased in late November 1995, due to SEPTA’s annual moratorium.

By March 1996, Cornell became current on its payments to D.L. Smith, paying all amounts due except for retainage. 3 In August 1996, Cornell requested D.L. Smith to return to work so that the Project could be completed before the November 1996 SEPTA moratorium. D.L. Smith refused to return to the Project in 1996, citing several reasons in support of its position. In fact, D.L. Smith did return to work in October 1996, but completed only certain punch lists 4 completed by SEPTA. On October 3, 1996, D.L. Smith demanded a reduction in retainage withheld by Cornell. Cornell refused to reduce D.L. Smith’s retainage, stating that D.L. Smith had not completed enough work on the Project to warrant such reduction. On November 13, 1996, D.L. Smith permanently departed from the Project. Subsequently, Cornell hired Seaway to complete the work. Seaway did in fact complete the work at a cost of $307,000.00.

*837 On December 2, 1997, Cornell filed for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. On February 4, 1997, Seaway filed a general unsecured claim against Cornell for $342,-053.00, which was amended to $571,026.08 on February 18, 1998. On May 14, 1998, D.L. Smith filed a general unsecured claim against Cornell for $80,374.83.

Prior to trial, Cornell and Seaway settled their differences. Under the settlement, Cornell withdrew its objection to Seaway’s proof of claim and, under Cornell’s reorganization plan, Seaway elected to be paid $80,525.85 out of its unsecured claim for $307,446.03 relating to the CL-2D Project. Also under the settlement, Cornell agreed to continue its counterclaim against D.L. Smith and to assign to Seaway its rights against D.L. Smith up to the amount of the remaining balance of Seaway’s $307,446.03 claim against Cornell. Consequently, out of any recovery Cornell might gain against D.L. Smith, the first $226,920.18 would go to Seaway, with any remaining balance to be paid to Cornell.

Thus, a trial proceeded in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on November 18, 19, 20 and 30, 1998 and consisted of D.L. Smith opposing Cornell and Seaway. The Bankruptcy Court found that D.L. Smith breached its subcontract agreement with Cornell and awarded damages to Cornell in the amount of $1,160.00. Initially, the Bankruptcy Court found that D.L. Smith’s proof of claim for unreleased retainage must be disallowed because D.L. Smith failed to complete its contractual obligations. Next, the Bankruptcy Court held that, based on the prime contract and subcontract, $842,535.00 in approved progress payments made from Cornell to D.L. Smith constituted final acceptance of the work. 5 The Bankruptcy Court next denied Cornell’s claim for delay damages caused by D.L. Smith’s breach. The Bankruptcy Court also denied Cornell’s claims for back-charges against D.L. Smith. 6 Last, the Bankruptcy Court calculated $1,160.00 as the amount of damages to be awarded to Cornell based on D.L. Smith’s breach of the subcontract.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A district court’s appellate review of a bankruptcy court’s decision is two-fold. First, the bankruptcy court’s findings of fact are reviewed under a “clearly erroneous” standard. In re Siciliano, 13 F.3d 748, 750 (3d Cir.1994); Fed.R.Bankr.P. 8013. The clearly erroneous standard is stringent: “ ‘[i]t is the responsibility of an appellate court to accept the ultimate factual determination of the fact-finder unless that determination either is completely devoid of minimum evidentiary support displaying some hue of credibility or bears no rational relationship to the supportive evidentiary data.’ ” Fellheimer, Eichen & Braverman, P.C. v. Charter Techs., Inc., 57 F.3d 1215, 1223 (3d Cir. *838 1995) (quoting Hoots v. Pennsylvania, 703 F.2d 722, 725 (3d Cir.1983)). “Due regard” must be given to the bankruptcy court’s opportunity to judge first-hand the credibility of witnesses. See id.; Fed. R.Bankr.P. 8013. Second, the bankruptcy court’s conclusions of law are reviewed de novo. Brown v. Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union, 851 F.2d 81, 84 (3d Cir.1988); In re Allentown Moving and Storage, 214 B.R. 761, 763 (E.D.Pa.1997).

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242 B.R. 834, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seaway-painting-inc-v-dl-smith-co-in-re-cornell-co-paed-1999.