Securities & Exchange Commission v. Grendys

840 F. Supp. 2d 36, 2012 WL 12266, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 408
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJanuary 4, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 07-120 (CKK)
StatusPublished

This text of 840 F. Supp. 2d 36 (Securities & Exchange Commission v. Grendys) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Securities & Exchange Commission v. Grendys, 840 F. Supp. 2d 36, 2012 WL 12266, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 408 (D.D.C. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY, District Judge.

Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed the Complaint alleging Defendant Joseph Grendys and three co-Defendants aided and abetted violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78a et seq. Mr. Grendys is the only remaining defendant in this action, and has filed the instant [63] Motion for Summary Judgment and [67] Motion to Strike.1 Both motions are fully briefed. Upon consideration of the pleadings, the relevant authorities, and the record before the Court, for the reasons stated below, Defendant’s motions are DENIED.

I. EVIDENTIARY ISSUES

Before reaching the substance of Defendant’s motions, the Court will briefly ad[39]*39dress the evidentiary issues raised in Defendant’s Motion to Strike. In its motion, Defendant raises a number of issues with Plaintiffs Statement of Genuine Issues of Material Fact and Response to Defendant’s Statement of Alleged Undisputed Facts. In setting forth the dispositive motions schedule, the Court instructed the parties that they were expected to fully comply with Local Civil Rule 7(h), and that the Court may strike pleadings not in conformity with this Rule. Scheduling and Procedures Order, ECF No. [61], at 1. Defendant takes issue with a number of features of Plaintiffs submission, including (1)its length; (2) that it fails to cite to the record; (3) that the SEC’s citations to the record are incorrect; (4) that the SEC’s responses do not contradict the proffered facts; and (5) that the SEC’s own Statement contains immaterial facts.

First, although lengthy, the Court notes that the first forty two pages of Plaintiffs Statement are in fact responses to the 127 allegedly undisputed facts identified by Defendant in support of his motion. See Pl.’s Stmt, and Resp. Stmt., ECF No. [65-1]. The remaining twenty pages outline facts the SEC claims are undisputed. Id. Given the complicated factual history of the case, the Court does not find the length to be an independent basis for striking the Statement.

Second, Defendant argues the SEC fails to cite evidence in the record when disputing Defendant’s proffered facts. It is unclear how the SEC could cite to the record to support a claim that a particular fact is “immaterial,” nor does the Court find it was necessary for the SEC to provide records cites to support its claim that Mr. Grendys’ testimony is self-serving. Additionally, many of the responses the Defendant complains about are non-factual because the “facts” asserted by Defendant was not factual in nature. See Resp. Stmt. ¶ 109 (disputing Defendant’s characterization of the side letter as simply a “more detailed letter”). Defendant is correct that in many case the SEC’s Response Statement cites to its own Statement, rather than directly to the record. However, given that the SEC’s statement in turn provides direct citations to the record, the cross-reference simplified the Response and did not impede the Court’s or Defendant’s ability to discern the basis for the SEC’s response.

Third, Defendant claims the SEC “egregiously” asserts disputes using incorrect record citations. Just because Defendant disagrees with the SEC’s reading of deposition testimony or any other portion of the record is not surprising, and does not make the SEC’s citations incorrect, much less “egregiously so.” A dispute regarding the interpretation of a witness’s testimony is a matter for the trier of fact, not the basis for a motion to strike.

Fourth, Defendant argues that the SEC’s “response” to the Defendant’s proffered facts does not contradict the underlying fact, and in many cases simply provides additional “clarifying” information. The Court does not fault the SEC for providing contextual information that does not contradict the underlying fact when in many eases the Defendant’s “fact” is exaggerated, or makes some value judgment with which the SEC disagrees. See Resp. Stmt. ¶ 47 (disputing the Defendant’s characterization of “promotional allowances” as “monies accrued”). Moreover, the Defendant is simply incorrect that the SEC’s Response does not contradict the proffered fact. For example, in paragraphs 48 and 49, the Defendant alleges it is undisputed that Mr. Grendys did not know how USF accounted for promotional allowances from Frozen Farms, or anything about USF’s internal accounting generally. The SEC [40]*40responds with deposition testimony indicating USF employees told Mr. Grendys how USF purportedly used money from Frozen Farms against accounts receivables owed by Koch Poultry, indicating Mr. Grendys had at least some knowledge of USF’s internal accounting procedures. The SEC also responds that this is not a “fact” because the only basis for it is Mr. Grendys’ self-serving testimony. The SEC’s evidence, if true, directly contradicts the “fact” claimed by the Defendant. Defendant may not agree with the SEC’s argument, but that is not a basis for striking it.

Fifth, Defendant contends the Court should strike the SEC’s Statement because it contains “immaterial and irrelevant assertions.” In its Response Statement, the SEC makes the same claim as to many of the “facts” offered by Defendant. In the end, if a “fact” is not a fact, or is immaterial to the case at hand, the Court will simply ignore it. To the extent the Defendant argues various facts are irrelevant to the resolution of his motion, he can and has argued as such in the summary judgment pleadings. The Court finds that the SEC substantially complied with Local Civil Rule 7(h), and there is no basis for striking the SEC’s Statement and Response to Defendant’s Statement.

II. BACKGROUND

During the relevant time period, Defendant Joseph Grendys was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Koch Poultry. Def.’s Stmt. ¶ 11.2 Although privately owned, Koch Poultry undergoes annual audits. Id. at ¶ 72. In 1989, Koch Poultry began selling commodity and value-added chicken products to and through U.S. Foodservice’s (“USF”) predecessor companies. Resp. Stmt. ¶ 13. USF was a food service and distribution company that purchased food and food-related products from vendors and resold the products to end users. Def.’s Stmt. ¶ 3. USF also functioned as a distributor, delivering products purchased from vendors to end users. Id. Prior to April 2000, USF was a publicly-owned company, with its shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Pl.’s Stmt. ¶ 3. In April 2000, USF was acquired by Royal Ahold, N.V., a Netherlands-based, publicly held company whose shares were registered with the SEC and traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Def.’s Stmt. ¶¶ 1-2, 50. Mr. Grendys was aware of Royal Ahold’s acquisition of USF, but the parties dispute how much Mr. Grendys knew about Royal Ahold and the relationship between Royal Ahold and USF after the acquisition. Resp. Stmt. ¶¶ 51-54. Mark Kaiser was the Executive Vice President of Purchasing and Procurement, and later the Chief Marketing Officer for USF. Id. at ¶ 7. Timothy Lee was the Executive Vice President of Purchasing, and William Carter was the Vice President of Purchasing at USF. Def.’s Stmt. ¶¶ 8-9. Brian Spears served as USF’s Vice President of Market Based Products for the purchasing department. Id. at ¶10.

Throughout the history USF’s relationship with Koch Poultry, Mr. Grendys was the lead salesperson and main point of contact at Koch.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
840 F. Supp. 2d 36, 2012 WL 12266, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/securities-exchange-commission-v-grendys-dcd-2012.